Innocence of Heart
by Letselina
Summary: [Complete][Sequel to Lost Love] Piper Strife, daughter of Aeris and Cloud, accidentally stumbles into Spira. But when she learns of her parents' pasts and her own fate, will she be able to protect her friends and this new world from oblivion?
1. Through the Door into Spira

_A/N: Hello everyone! Here is the sequel to Lost Love. I don't have much to say about it yet. I hope to see some new reviewers and some old. I would just like to say one thing to Dr. P ('cause yer so spekkal): I hope you still read this story!! So without much further ado-  
  
__**Innocence of Heart  
**  
Sequel to Lost Love  
_  
**-Chapter One-  
  
-Through the Door to Spira-**

* * *

"Ty! If you don't give me back my earrings you're going to be sorry!" cried sixteen year old Piper Strife. She was having difficulty chasing her twelve year old brother. The long crimson dress her mother had given her was making it hard to run. "Mom!" she yelled.  
  
"I didn't do it!" Ty shouted. He stuck his tounge out at his sister, emerald eyes glittering with mischief.  
  
"He took my earrings!"  
  
"Ty!" called their mother, "Give Piper her earrings!"  
  
"I don't think so!" the blonde boy laughed.  
  
Piper growled, walking into her parent's bedroom. "I'm sure Mom won't mind if I borrow some of hers," she said quietly, opening a small box. An envelope fell out onto her foot. "What's this?" she wondered, picking it up. Opening it, she saw a small key, a photo, and a letter. The photo seemed to be from a wedding. There were a lot of people there. She didn't reconize anyone, except her own mother. Standing beside the bride was a younger version of her mother. Bright green eyes, brunette hair, it had to be her. Curious, Piper opened the letter, reading its contents.  
  
_Dear Aeris,  
  
Our journey was long and hard, but we made it. We won. I understand that you want to go back to Midgar, no matter how much I will deny it. I hope Cloud forgives you (and me) about Tifa, Cid, and Barret. They didn't deserve their fate, and maybe sometime, we can go back in time and save them. Say hello to Yuffie and Red for me. Rikku says hi too. Well, enclosed is a photo from my wedding, it was so much fun, and a time-key. It will create a portal, five thousand years in the future. Hopefully you'll take the time to visit us once in a while! When things calm down here, we'll try and visit you too (if we can find you.) You saved my life, more than once. I still owe you so much, but I hoped reuniting you with Cloud was a start. I know what it's like to search for someone. Everything is going to change, maybe for the better. Either way, it'll be an adventure! Spira will be lonely without you. We'll miss you a lot, so hurry back sometime!  
  
Your friend always,  
  
-Yuna_  
  
Piper scratched the back of her head, a trait she had inherited from her father. _What the heck is this_? She didn't understand much of the letter. It was addressed to her mother, yes. But who was this Yuna? And did she know Tifa, Cid, and Barret? Obviously if she did, it was before her time. Her mother had said the three of them had died tragically before she was even born. "Hey Mom!" she called.  
  
"Yes Piper?" said a brunette, poking her head through the door. She was in her late thirties, but she still had the heart of a child. "I got your earrings from your brother," she said, tossing a pair of garnet earrings to her daughter.  
  
"Mom, who are these people?" Piper questioned, sapphire eyes curious.  
  
Piper's mother sat beside her daughter, taking the photo. A small gasp escaped her lips. Softly, she patted Piper's hand, "Where did you find this?" she asked.  
  
"In this box. I was looking for a pair of earrings."  
  
"Piper, these people..." Aeris looked at her daughter. How could she explain about her journey? That was a little more than seventeen years ago. She had come back from the dead, after five thousand years. Aeris and her husband, Cloud, had never told anything to their children about Sephiroth. It was too hard to think about. "Someday I will tell you. Right now, you're just a little too young to understand."  
  
"Mom! You can tell me. I'm sixteen!"  
  
"I know honey..." Aeris sighed. "It's just... a little painful for my father and I to look back at that time. It was a little before I got pregnant with you."  
  
"Well can you at least tell me how this Yuna person knows about Tifa, Cid, and Barret? I thought you said they died before I was born," Piper said.  
  
"They did. And I knew Yuna before you were born. Well actually, long after but it's really hard to explain so could you just wait?"  
  
"Why does it have to wait? Can you tell me just a little?" Piper pleaded.  
  
Aeris grinned at her daughter, "Well maybe just a little bit..." she thought about how she could tell her daughter about this, without telling her about Sephiroth. "It was a long time after I first met your father. We were... apart for about five years. I met a young man named Tidus, see he's the groom," Aeris pointed out the blonde blitzball player. "And he was looking for his lost love, Yuna, the bride. They had been separated for about five years as well. After a few months, we found Yuna and there was a happy reunion. But they made me realize how much I missed your father..."  
  
"Were you two married yet?"  
  
"No, not yet. We didn't get married for another year, when we found out I was pregnant with you. But..." Aeris sighed again. "I'm sorry sweetie. It's to hard to tell you without telling you about Sephiroth..."  
  
"Who?" Piper inquired, finally pulling something from her mother. _Ha, I knew she'd crack sometime_.  
  
"No one, dear. It's a very long story. Another night perhaps. You're going to be late for your party anyways."  
  
"Oh fine," Piper appeared to have given up. She stood up in the mirror, putting in the garnet earrings. Her mother had put up her hair. It was in a long braid, a matching crimson bow tying it back. "I'll be back late, so I'll let myself in," Piper said, putting a key in her purse.  
  
Aeris watched her daughter carefully. It was startling how much she resembled herself. Almost everything except for her father's sapphire eyes. She didn't really know why she had put her daughter's hair up the way it was. Just like it had been when she travelled with Cloud, and when she... met her match. She shook her head, "You look lovely, Piper. Have a good time and don't do anything stupid."  
  
"Thanks Mom," Piper smiled, giving her mother a quick hug. She walked out of the room, slipping on a pair of dark crimson heels.  
  
"Yeah Piper, don't do anything stupid. In other words, don't go by the boys!" teased her brother.  
  
"Ty, I'm going to be late. Why don't you go get a life," Piper said, glaring at the blonde brat.  
  
"Piper! Be nice to your-- Whoa..." Piper's father walked out of the kitchen, looking at his daughter, "For a moment there, you looked just like your mother."  
  
"Thanks Dad," Piper said, kissing her father on the cheek. She stopped, an idea popping in her head. "Hey Dad, do you know who Sephiroth is?"  
  
Cloud's jaw dropped slightly, but he shook his head. "I've heard of him somewhere. He can't be too important. Don't bother wasting your time trying to find out who he was. He's probably a nobody."  
  
_Yeah, right_. Piper nodded. "Okay Dad," she said, knowing exactly what she would do after the party. "We'll I'm going to be late. See you later!"  
  
"Behave yourself," he warned, watching her walk into the next room. Cloud scratched the back of his head. How did his daughter find out about Sephiroth?  
  
Piper opened the front door of her house, expecting to walk out to the peaceful village of Kalm. But that wasn't where her door opened to. She found herself in a dimly lit temple. "Huh...?" she turned around, opening the door again. But it led outside, to a small village with little huts. "What's going on here?"  
  
"Hey you! Girl in the red!"  
  
"Me?" Piper squeaked. She spun around, seeing a fiery haired young man.  
  
"Yah you! How'd you get in here?" he demanded. He had violet eyes, and a strong build. Piper guessed he was a little under twenty years old.  
  
"I... uh don't know. Where is here?" Piper asked.   
  
"It's Besaid Temple. Who are you?"  
  
"My name is Piper, Piper Strife."  
  
"Well, c'mon. I didn't think anyone could get past Loey's spells."  
  
"Vidina! What are you doing?" asked a brunette girl, walking down a staircase. "How did she get in here? My spells were inpenetrable!"  
  
"Sorry Loey. I don't know how she got in here," he shrugged. He turned back to Piper, "Well, we need to be alone, can you... leave?"  
  
"Umm... sure..." Piper said. Her head was spinning. What was going on? Something told her there was something a bit kinky going on with a young man and woman alone in this giant temple. She opened the door again, walking out into the night.  
  
"Zalèa! Come back here!!"  
  
"Mom! I'm going to be late for the party!" shouted a blonde haired girl. She was walking backwards from one of the huts. She was dressed in a short floral skirt and a bikini top.  
  
"Not dressed like that you're not!" her mother yelled, walking out of the hut. She was a bit older, maybe in her late thirties. Her blonde hair was piled on top of her head, but a lot of it still fell down her shoulders.  
  
"But Mom!" she whined, "You dressed like this too when you were seventeen!"  
  
The mother sighed, "Oh fine." She looked towards Piper, her eyes growing wide. "Holy chocobos!"  
  
"What?!" the girl turned to look at Piper. "Whoa, you didn't need to dress up that much. It's a beach party, not a prom!"  
  
Piper tilted her head. "What?" She noticed the mother had ran into another hut, shrieking.  
  
"There goes my Mom, again. She's too ditzy for her own good. So who are you?" the girl asked, walking closer. "I don't think I've ever seen you around here before."  
  
"I'm Piper. I don't know... how I got here. I think I'm lost."  
  
The girl shrugged, her green swirled eyes sparkling in the warm night. "I'm Zalèa. I don't know how you could get lost in Besaid. It's so tiny."  
  
"Rikku! What do you want?" yelled a brunette who was getting dragged out of her hut.  
  
"Just look at her Yunie!" cried Zalèa's mother.  
  
The brunette pushed the other woman off her arm, then looked at Piper, her jaw dropping. "You finally came back!"  
  
"Came back...?" Piper said, confused. "I've never been here before!"  
  
"It's been almost twenty years. Don't you remember? Aeris, it's me. Yuna," the brunette said, walking towards Piper.  
  
Piper shook her head, backing away. "Sorry, my name is Piper Strife. Aeris Strife is my mother. I don't know what's going on here but if it's a joke, it's getting really lame!"  
  
"Aeris Strife?" Zalèa's mother said with shining eyes like her daughter's. "Yay! Aeris and Cloud got married!"  
  
"That's weird. Why didn't she tell us?" the brunette woman who claimed to be Yuna wondered.  
  
"Probably because she doesn't know you people!" Piper said, getting irritated. "And now I'm going to be late for the dance!"  
  
"Piper, calm down," Yuna said. "How did you get here?"  
  
"I don't know! I walked out the door and suddenly I was walking into that temple," she said.  
  
"The time-key," smiled Yuna. "Okay, I understand now."  
  
"Well I don't!" Piper exclaimed.  
  
"Hey, Piper," Zalèa said, "Why don't you come down to the beach party with us. I'm sure I have a swimsuit that will fit you and we can leave these guys to figure out why you're here."  
  
"I suppose," she sighed. A beach party did sound a lot more fun than listening to these other people. And Zalèa seemed nice. _I wonder if this is the same Yuna that was in the wedding picture. She sure looks like it_, Piper thought.  
  
"LOOK OUT!" yelled a group of boys.  
  
"Huh?" Piper spun around, only to get whacked with a ball, flying at full speed.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry the first chapter isn't the best but it's really hard to create new characters with the traits of Square's characters Anyways, probably after the next chapter, I'll put up a little chart thingy so you can keep the kids straight. And don't worry, this story won't be all kids! I look forward to your reviews!   
BTW, if you haven't read Lost Love yet, you might want to because a lot of this might be a little bit confusing.   
Here's the link for you: Letselina_


	2. Blitz and New Friends

_A/N: Hi-0 everyone! Well here comes chappy two. I'm having a lot of fun planning out this story, especially since I get to create new personalities and stuff for all the kids. I'm going to start writing to the reviewers at the bottom of the chapter because... I dunno why!_

DISCLAIMER: (Hehe, I forgot about this.) I do not own, nor am I saying I do, any of Square-Enix's characters although I sure wish I owned Tidus drool. I DO own the kids! (Except for Vidina. Who would be so wakko to name their kid Vidina? Obviously someone with the name Wakka... hrmmm...)

**-Chapter Two-  
  
-Blitz and New Friends-**

* * *

"Hey! Are you all right?" a young man asked.  
  
"Smooth move, Evan! Knock out the new girl," a voice she reconized as Zalèa's spoke.  
  
"Hey we were just playing some blitz! She should've watched it," another young man said.  
  
Piper opened her eyes. Above her, she saw a pair of green swirled orbs and another pair of handsome turquoise orbs. She groaned quietly, her head throbbing.  
  
"Piper, are you okay?" Zalèa asked.  
  
"Yeah I think so," she said, sitting up. She was in one of the huts, a group of people surrounding her. "Who are you people?" Piper wondered, now realizing more people had come.  
  
"I'm Zalèa; we met before the boys knocked you out," the pretty blonde rolled her eyes.  
  
"I'm not a boy!" cried a girl with black hair, twisted into a few long braids. She had the same violet eyes as the man in the temple had. She wasn't as old as the others, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old. "My name is Rydia."  
  
"I'm Briar," said a tan haired boy.  
  
"Andre," waved a younger boy. He had long light brown hair that fell in his eyes. He was probably the same age as Rydia.  
  
"And I'm Evan. Are you all right?" asked the young boy with turquoise eyes. He had soft blonde hair.  
  
Piper tried to keep calm; it was getting difficult. All these new faces were making her head spin. "Yeah I'll be fine," she muttered. She sighed loudly as a group of adults walked in. _Great! More faces to remember!_ she thought sarcastically.  
  
"Wow, she really does look like Aeris," stated a blonde man. He stood beside Yuna. Piper guessed that they were Evan's parents by their facial similarities.  
  
"Evan, where's your sister?" Yuna asked.  
  
"She's already down at the beach, waiting for us," the blonde boy replied. "We should probably head down there guys. You coming?" he asked Piper.  
  
Piper glanced at Zalèa who nodded. _I can always find a way home later._ "Sure, sounds like fun!"  
  
"Come on! I'll get you something more comfortable to wear," the perky blonde said, leading Piper into another room. She dug through a drawer of clothes until she pulled out something similar to what she was wearing. "Here. Go over there and change, I'll guard the door," she said, her green eyes sparkling.  
  
Piper wondered why her eyes didn't have normal black pupils like the others, but a black swirl instead. She decided to ask later as she changed into the bikini and slipped on the long floral skirt. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she felt a bit bare. Her mother would probably have a fit if she saw her going to a party dressed the way she was. That made it even more daring to do it. Besides, her mother wouldn't even know she was missing until the next morning. She took off her heeled sandals, deciding to go barefoot. Walking out, she realized that the other teenagers had left, leaving her with Zalèa and the adults. She really didn't want to deal with these people who claimed to know her mother. Why were they making such a big deal over it anyway? If they were so important, her mother would have mentioned them before.  
  
"Hey Piper!" said the blonde man who had said she looked like Aeris. He was in his late thirties, muscular, cerulean eyes, and soft blonde hair like Evan's.  
  
Stopping, Piper sighed again. "Yes?" she asked. She'd only been here, and conscious, for a little over ten minutes and already she was annoyed by these people.  
  
"Will you please let us go Uncle Tidus?" Zalèa said, bored. "You can pester this poor girl later. We're going to the party now." She pushed Piper out of the hut before any of the adults could speak again. "Come on. We're already late as it is," Zalèa grinned.  
  
Piper smiled. She was glad to have already made a friend, but something was strange. "Why are you being so nice to me? You don't even know who I am," she said. They walked out of the village, down a long path.  
  
"Well you see, my parents and my family are all really big people. Everyone knows who they are and I'm constantly being pestered by them. Even in school! 'Zalèa, if you want to live up to your father's reputation in the Machine Faction you better get your act together.' 'Zalèa, your mother this. Your father this. Your aunt this. Your uncle this.' Blah blah blah," she said, mocking teachers. "It gets on my nerves and I wish I could have normal parents who just watched the world go by or had fun in their younger years instead of saving the world!"  
  
"Wow, that must really be bad. I'm glad my parents aren't famous," Piper sighed in relief. They began to walk past a bunch of waterfalls, getting sprayed by water as they hurried over the bridges.  
  
Zalèa stopped. "You're kidding right? Your parents are totally famous. At least to my parents and their friends. Your parents are Cloud and Aeris right?"  
  
Piper tilted her head to one side. Her parents? Famous? _Yeah right!_ "They're only Cloud and Aeris I know. How can they be famous?"  
  
"Well I'm not really sure. Only my parents and their friends seem to know about them but I guess they were really popular in your world. Something about a guy named Sephiroth and that old maester, Seymour," Zalèa said, continuing.  
  
_Sephiroth. Who the hell is this guy? And why don't my parents want me to know about him? Maybe 'Yuna' and her friends can tell me about him_, Piper thought. "Oh. Right," she said, still confused.  
  
"But to answer your question, I'm being nice to you because you seem like a nice person and when people 'fall' into Spira, they always seem to be destined to come here. It's this weird theory my aunt and uncle have but believe me, it seems to be true."  
  
"Yo Z! It's about time!" yelled a blonde haired girl. They had arrived at the beach. "What took you so long? Who's she?" she demanded, pointing to Piper. Her long blonde hair was sopping wet.  
  
"Sorry Nari! This is Piper. Piper, this is my second cousin or some odd relation like that... Narianne," Zalèa said with a bright grin.  
  
"Don't call me Narianne. Just Nari," the blonde said, glaring at her cousin. "So you must be the one my parents are fussing over, eh?"  
  
"Um, I guess so," Piper replied. She guessed Nari was Evan's sister, and Yuna's daughter.  
  
"Well, don't let them bug you. If they get irritating, just call me or Z and we'll save you," Nari smirked. "C'mon! You look like you came here for the party, let's have some fun!" she said, running back into the crowd of teenagers.  
  
Piper began to feel nervous, around so many people she didn't know. Zalèa ran off to go dance with a group. She decided to take a seat on one of the benches sat near a bonfire. _Wow, Charis would love this place..._ she thought, thinking of her closest friend. Charis Kisaragi was a hyper active girl, just a year younger than Piper, who loved to party, and fight. But something happened to both Charis and her mother, Yuffie a few weeks before. They had practically disappeared off the face of the world.  
  
"Hey there," a boy said, sitting beside her.  
  
"Hiya," Piper smiled. She thanked whatever greater force was out there that she hadn't inherited her mother's blush. She then realized it was Evan, Yuna's son, who had come by her.  
  
"Zalèa ditch you already?" he chuckled.  
  
"Not really. I just don't know anyone here so I'm just watching for now," she said.  
  
Evan shrugged, his wet hair dripping onto his shoulders. Piper realized he was just as muscular as his father. _What was the name of the groom in that picture anyways?_ she wondered.  
  
"That's not much fun, is it?" he asked.  
  
"I guess not," she replied.  
  
"You should come play blitz with us! The water's warm for this time of year!" he invited.  
  
"Blitz?" Piper questioned, a puzzled look on her face.  
  
Evan's jaw dropped a little, "You mean they don't have blitzball where you come from? Bummer. Well come on!" he said, taking her hand, "We'll show you how!"  
  
"Oh I don't know..." Piper said worriedly as he dragged her towards the edge of the beach. She remembered hearing that's the kind of ball she had gotten hit with.  
  
"It'll be fun!" Zalèa's voice came from behind her.  
  
Piper opened her eyes wide as she got pushed into the ocean water. She found herself swimming out, following Evan to the group she had met earlier. Making a mental note to herself: _Make Zalèa sorry for this. Very sorry_, she listened carefully as they tried to explain the game to her. It sounded something like water polo. "I think I'll watch first," she said, nervously.  
  
"If you say so," the black haired girl, Rydia, said. "Blitz off!" she cried as the ball was tossed in the air. Most of the game was played above water; she had been told that was because it was hard to play underwater in the ocean and most of them still had trouble holding their breath for five minutes straight.  
  
"Score!" the young man, Briar, laughed. His team consisted of himself, Rydia, and Nari.  
  
"Unfair!" Andre whined. "You have Nari _and_ Rydia. Everyone knows Rydia's the best player other than Vidina!" His team consisted of Evan and himself.  
  
"Well that's because Vidina and Loey are celebrating the twentieth year of the Eternal Calm doing something else," Rydia said, making a gagging noise.  
  
"Yeah. Wait until the adults attempt going in the temple," Evan laughed. "Your mom can easily break Loey's spells," he said to Rydia.  
  
_Loey and Vidina... weren't those the two people in that temple I walked in?_ Piper asked herself.  
  
"Hey Piper! You ready to play?" Evan called.  
  
_Here goes nothing. I'll probably get knocked out again,_ she thought pessimistically. "All right! I'll try!" she called back, swimming towards the 'field' they had set boundaries to. They played for a while; Piper scored once, but mostly passed the ball to Evan or Andre.  
  
"You learn fast, new girl," Rydia grinned as they walked out of the water, catching their breaths.  
  
"Thanks," Piper said, taking the compliment.  
  
"So you're really the daughter of Aeris?" Nari asked her as they sat in the sand, listening to the loud music the dee-jay played.  
  
"Yeah. But I don't get it, why is she so special? And who's this Sephiroth guy?" asked Piper. _Maybe now I'll get some answers,_ she thought hopefully.  
  
"To tell ya the truth," Nari sighed, "I don't know. My mom and dad mention them sometimes, but they seem pretty important. You're good at blitz though. Next time you can be on my team. Hey Z!" she waved as her cousin sat by them.  
  
"You played blitzball?" Zalèa said, shocked.  
  
"Yeah! And she's a lot better than you are!" Nari teased.  
  
Zalèa stuck her tounge out at Nari then shrugged, "It's not my fault your brother took her out there."  
  
"Well you're the one who pushed me in the water!" Piper argued.  
  
"Oh, right," Zalèa sighed in defeat.  
  
"So what's this party for anyways?" asked Piper.  
  
"We're celebrating twenty years of the Eternal Calm," Nari said. "Don't worry. You'll find all about it soon, I'm sure," she said after seeing Piper's confused expression.  
  
"Oh! I love this song! Come on! Let's go dance!" Zalèa cried, dragging Nari and Piper to the dance area.

* * *

"My lady," a young child spoke, "the one with blood of the Cetra has arrived." She stood in the doorway of a dimly lit room. Locks of violet colored hair blew around her face in the soft breeze from an open window. Her amethyst eyes glittered with a strange but strong power.  
  
"Finally," replied a female voice. A young woman looked up from her desk. Long silver hair streaked with copper flowed dangerously close to the ground. "I've waited seventeen years for this day, and finally the young wretch will find the cure for her curiousity. What's the name of the Ancient's daughter?"  
  
"Piper Strife. But already, she has gained a bond with those we feared she would," the child said. "I can't let my father down again."  
  
"Don't fret, child. After all, the bond is weak. We shall soon be free of our fathers' clutches and we will become what we have strived for years to reach," the young woman smiled. Her eyes sparkled; one was diamond silver, the other was a sapphire blue.  
  
"Soon," the little girl said softly, closing her eyes. The soft sound of the ocean against the cliffside where they resided was all that was heard.

* * *

_A/N: Weeeee! Took a long time to write, but there's the second chapter. Now if you're confused about the characters, I have a list in my profile. (Just click my username) And because I'm not that great at describing some people, I'm going to tell you that the little girl (in the last part) is supposed to look like MOMO from Xenosaga except for she's supposed to be all purple instead of orange. And the young woman... errm she has eyes like Yuna but different color and hair like almost as long as Mistress 9 from Sailor Moon. _

_**To Emrelle Elendal**: Happy dance! Hurray! huggles Evan plushie  
**To dark dragon 00**: Okay, I'm really glad you like my stories and review and read them all and stuff but I'd like it if you put more than, "good job" or "excellent" all the time in your reviews, okay? grins  
**To SongstressLenne**: Some will be mushy... yesh... hehe._

_Love ya'll tonz and tonz  
Letselina_


	3. Morning

_A/N: Hello everyone. Sorry for such the long wait. One, I had such bad writers block and this chappy is still a bit short. Yesterday I finally broke it and wrote a lot more than this but there was this big arse storm (it rocked, there were two rainbows and the lightning was going across it because the sun was out) and my power went out before I could save! I was so PO'ed I didn't even bother writing until today. So here you go! Remember, the character list is in my profile if your confused!_  
  
**-Chapter Three-  
-Morning-**

* * *

_Piper was kneeling down on a platform, praying her heart out. She wasn't sure what she was praying for, or even where she was. A young man stood in front of her, a sword looming omniously in his hands. She tried to see his face, but it was too hard. Yet somehow, she knew it was someone important to her. Someone she loved. He seemed to be struggling against himself, trying to pull the sword away.   
  
Something stirred behind her, and suddenly... everything began to go black. Looking down, she saw the slender katana that had been thrusted through her body. Slowly, her body fell to the ground. She knew, she was dead._  
  
Piper opened one eye tiredly, sitting up. The dream didn't bother her much. It was a recurring nightmare that she had been experiencing since she was a little girl. She often asked her mother and father about it, but they never answered. Obviously, they knew something. But they weren't going to tell her anytime soon. The warm early summer breeze was slowly awakening everyone on the beach. She kicked off the thin blanket that had probably been thrown over her while she was asleep. _That was more fun than the dance ever would have been, _she thought to herself. She managed to stand up, rubbing sand from her eyes. Hopping over sleeping bodies, she walked to the shoreline, letting the gentle tide flow over her feet. _And it will probably be the only fun I have for the rest of my life if Mom finds out. She's probably going crazy calling up all the neighbors and all my friends searching for me. And my friends will just answer 'she never showed up.' I'm never going to hear the end of it..._   
  
"Hey new girl! Whatcha thinking about?" Zalèa inquired, walking towards her.  
  
"How much trouble I'm going to be in when I get home," Piper sighed.  
  
She stretched her long, slender arms, yawning. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure my parents can clear up that you were just at the beach party with me."  
  
"Yeah, say that and it'll be even worse," Piper said. She crossed her arms over her chest, the wind blowing her tangles of hair around. "My mother is really cautious. She's always afraid of me getting hurt or killed."  
  
"Total opposite of my mom then," Zalèa groaned. "My mom is really ditzy and acts like a kid. Everyone says I took after both her and my father equally, but I like to think I didn't."  
  
"Hey Piper!" Evan waved, coming nearer.  
  
"Hiya Evan," Piper said, waving back.  
  
"You're gonna play blitz with us later right?" he asked, a pleading look in his eyes.  
  
Piper grinned, "Of course!"  
  
"All right! I'll see you later!" he said, running up the path to the village.  
  
Zalèa began to giggle.  
  
"What?!" Piper demanded.  
  
"Oh nothing. I'll tell you later. Anyways, we better go back. You can ask Yuna about your mom and stuff," the blonde said, grinning to herself.  
  
"Sounds like a plan," said Piper. They began to climb up the path, taking a shortcut to the village. She noticed a lot of rubble and debri from what looked like old buildings. "What happened here?"  
  
"Happened where?" Zalèa asked.  
  
"Why are all these old buildings here? It doesn't look anything like the village," Piper stated.  
  
"Oh that," Zalèa sighed. "Well it was a long time ago. There was this monster, named Sin. Supposedly he was there because the impurity of humans made Yu Yevon summon it."  
  
"Who's Yu Yevon?"  
  
Zalèa shrugged. "You'd really have to ask Yuna. She's the high summoner after all."  
  
Piper raised a puzzled eyebrow. _High Summoner_? She herself could summon with the right materia, but anyone could do that. "Why is she a 'high' summoner?"  
  
"You really aren't from here, are you? She's the last summoner who defeated Sin. I guess there was this 'false tradition' before Yuna came along," Zalèa paused, looking at an old shrine. "People used to pray here before leaving the island. Mostly for luck. The adults are always telling us about how easy we live. When they were kids, they were afraid of death around every corner. Can you believe this island used to be infested with fiends? Most people rarely know how to defend themselves."  
  
Piper listened as she told her about Sin and the religion of Yevon. It seemed like a bunch of hullabaloo about nothing. Zalèa seemed to think so as well.  
  
"Well wouldn't you be the greatest history teacher?" teased a man with blonde hair. He sported a patch over one eye that poked at Piper's curiousity. "So you're Piper? You don't look _that_ much like your mother." He looked at Zalèa, "I suppose that's your doing isn't it?"  
  
"Of course. Piper, this is my father, Gippal," Zalèa introduced. Whispering, she said, "Don't worry, he's not always such a butthead."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Piper waved slightly.  
  
Gippal yawned, "Well I was looking for you Zalèa. Your mother and I are going to D'jose to help out. They're having some problems with the new machina. We'll be leaving late today. You coming?"  
  
"Of course!" Zalèa jumped up. "You wanna come?" she asked Piper.  
  
_What the heck is machina?_ she wondered. "Sure, why not?"  
  
"Great!" Zalèa grinned. "Kiacc oui'mm ryja du lyhlam fedr Evan," she said.  
  
"Hu fyo! Evan megac dra haf kenm?!" cried another blonde, standing beside Gippal. It was Zalèa's mother.  
  
Piper looked bewildered, lost in the strange language they were speaking. Something inside made her think they were talking about her.  
  
Zalèa laughed, "Oib! Oui lyh damm ra'c cu rayt ujan raamc fedr ran!"  
  
"Fyed ihdem Yunie raync! Cra'mm pa cu aqledat!" she squealed.  
  
"Cbayg cu dra buun kenm lyh ihtancdyht oui! It's not nice to talk about her in Al Bhed!" Gippal scolded playfully.  
  
"Pid Vydran!" whined Zalèa.  
  
"Ed'c duu silr vih!" the mother sighed. "Sorry, I guess I never introduced myself. I'm Rikku!"  
  
"Uh... Hi..." Piper nodded slowly.  
  
"Sorry Piper," Zalèa apologized.  
  
Piper smiled, "I thought you said you didn't want to take after you're mother."  
  
"Guess I can't help it."  
  
"What were you guys talking in anyways?" Piper wanted to know.  
  
"Al Bhed. It's our native language," Rikku answered.  
  
_Maybe that's what the swirly eye thing is about_. "Okay..." Piper said, as if she understood.  
  
"Well come on," Zalèa said. "We can go talk to Yuna now."  
  
"But what were you guys talking about?" Piper inquired.  
  
"Hudrehk!" Rikku and Zalèa chorused.  
  
Gippal shook his head, "Buun kenm," he muttered, leaving.  
  
Piper and Zalèa walked down the village path to the temple. "Why are we going in here?"  
  
"Yuna'll be in here. Come on!" she said, opening the door.  
  
The dimly lit temple wasn't exactly how she pictured a normal churchy-temple. Of course, Piper had been in there the night before, but she hardly got a chance to look around. There were statues all over; all oddly dressed people. One was of a woman with long ribbon-like hair. She wore hardly any clothing. Another was a man clad in robes with a funny hat. The final one that caught her attention was a woman wearing a skirt with a flowery design. "Wow," Piper said in quiet awe. Even though the temple was empty of any persons, it seemed wrong to be loud.  
  
"That's Yuna's statue. And the man wearing the strange hat was her father, Braska. He defeated Sin thirty years ago," Zalèa explained. "The half-naked woman is Yunalesca. Yuna was named after her. Yunalesca was the first summoner to defeat Sin, over a thousand years ago."  
  
"Wait, why did they keep defeating Sin? Don't you think it would just be... defeated after a while?" Piper was confused.  
  
Zalèa shrugged. "I'm not really sure why. I sort of fell asleep a few days in history class so..."  
  
"Right." Piper looked around, "So where's Yuna?"  
  
"That's weird. She's usually in here," the Al Bhed said. They checked the extra rooms but didn't see her.  
  
"What about in there?" Piper asked, pointing to the doorway at the top of a staircase.  
  
Zalèa looked around, checking for any sign of authority. "That's the Cloister of Trials. We're not supposed to go in there. It's really cool inside though."  
  
"Maybe she's in there..."  
  
"Wanna check?" Zalèa asked, a mischievious grin on her face.  
  
Piper nodded, her grin matching the Al Bhed's.

* * *

Aeris Strife looked at her husband. "She is sixteen. I suppose we can tell her the truth."  
  
"Do you really think she'll understand? I mean you were..." Cloud sighed.  
  
"I know. But she is old and mature. She can handle the truth. Ty can wait a few years," Aeris said. She stood up, smiling weakly at Cloud. "Wish me luck..."  
  
"Luck," Cloud winked.  
  
Aeris walked down a staircase to their basement. It was a cold, windowless area, but Piper had insisted on moving into the spare room. Once they saw how Piper had gotten the room carpeted and painted, they decided to let her move in. It worked out for the best anyways. Their son, Ty, was afraid of the basement, giving Piper the privacy she always had complained about not having. "Piper," she said, knocking on the door. Listening for a moment, she heard nothing. Worried, Aeris opened the door. "Piper, are you awake?" she whispered, turning on a light.  
  
The sight in front of her made her gasp. The bed was still perfectly made; nothing had been moved. Her daughter hadn't returned. "Cloud!" she yelled.

* * *

"Sephianna," the small girl, clad in purple, addressed the young woman with long hair. "She's going to enter the Cloister of Trials momentarily."  
  
"Thank you Ahriana," spoke the young woman. Her sapphire-diamond eyes met a pair of sapphire-emerald eyes. "Hello Lady Yuna. Enjoying yourself?"  
  
The High Summoner glared at her, struggling against the confining spell that had been cast on her. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded.  
  
"My name is Sephianna. Please don't struggle, I don't want you to be hurt," she smiled.  
  
"What do you want with me?" Yuna questioned.  
  
Sephianna shook her head, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you that just yet. For now, you're bait. I need the girl with Cetra blood, and you will lure her here."  
  
"Aeris isn't here," Yuna said, "She hasn't even been in Spira for almost twenty years."  
  
"Of course not," the little girl said, walking up to Yuna. "We aren't looking for Aeris though."  
  
Yuna's eyes widened with realization. "Piper..." she whispered the name of Aeris' daughter.

* * *

  
  
_**Al Bhed Translation: (Sorry I didn't have this up earlier)  
**Kiacc oui'mm ryja du lyhlam fedr Evan - _Guess you'll have to cancel with Evan  
_Hu fyo! Evan megac dra haf kenm?! - _No way! Evan likes the new girl?!  
_Oib! Oui lyh damm ra'c cu rayt ujan raamc fedr ran! - _Yup! You can tell he's so head over heels with her!  
_Fyed ihdem Yunie raync! Cra'mm pa cu aqledat! - _Wait until Yunie hears! She'll be so excited!  
_Cbayg cu dra buun kenm lyh ihtancdyht oui! - _Speak so the poor girl can understand you!  
_Pid Vydran! - _But Father!  
_Ed'c duu silr vih! - _It's too much fun!  
_Hudrehk! - _Nothing!  
_Buun kenm - _Poor girl  
  
_A/N: AHH! CLIFFHANGER! THE HORROR! Well now you know the names of the two people and you're probably guessing they are baddies. **To Dr. P: **Hi-o you! Don't worry about the kids, one I have a list in my profile and two, most of them won't be a main part of the story. **To Beautiful Songstress: **Lol okay, thanks for telling me. **To blushnbabe**: It's cute...? **To Shelbie: **Okay. To Emrelle: AHHH! DON'T TOUCH ME WITH IT! (the Shuyin plushie) beats Shuyin plushie with Evan plushie then gives Emrelle Evan plushie See, I'm perfecting Tidus by making Evan lol. **To dark dragon**: Okay thanks.  
Remember, I like constructive (not flames) critisism!  
LYL - Letselina _


	4. Trap

_A/N: Really sorry guys. I've had the worst case of writers block (I still do) and this chapter is horrible and short. And I've been busy. I couldn't work at all yesterday because I was in town working and took my siblings to see Harry Potter: PoA (which was okay but I wanted to see Shrek 2 but they already saw it ) And this weekend was my little brother's birthday an everything is so freakin hectic around here. So... here yah all go!_  
**  
-Chapter Four-  
-Trap-**

  


* * *

  


Piper and Zalèa entered the Cloister of Trials, but it had already been solved. "Yuna must be in the Chamber of the Fayth," the Al Bhed girl assumed. They stepped on the elevator that brought them down to a brightly lit room.  
  
"So why is it forbidden to come in here anyway?" Piper wondered, looking around.  
  
Zalèa shrugged. "Remember when I told you about Sin? Well summoners would go in here and pray to the 'Fayth' for the aeon."  
  
"What's an aeon?"  
  
"I don't really know. I've seen pictures, but that's all. My mom says all the aeons disappeared when Yuna beat Sin," Zalèa said, walking up a staircase. "I guess it's forbidden to come in here because there are still the die-hard Yevonites," she said, a disgusted look on her face.  
  
"Is there something bad about believing in Yevon?" Piper asked. "I mean, it's just a religion right?"  
  
"Yeah. But their beliefs are stupid and wrong. They killed thousands of Al Bhed because we did things that were sacrilegious," Zalèa sighed. "My grandfather gathered the remaining and started rebuilding Home. My mom and dad finished it though."  
  
_Wow, what a rough life._ "Why didn't your grandfather finish?" Piper heard herself ask.  
  
"He was killed."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry..."  
  
"It's all right. My mom says he was really mad at her for marrying my dad and stuff. And of course, I wasn't even alive when he died so I never met him," Zalèa shrugged. "Come on, let's go inside!" she said, smiling.  
  
They walked inside the door, entering a badly lit room. "Have you ever been in here?" Piper inquired. She shivered slightly; it was cold in the chamber.  
  
"Yeah... but it's never been like this. It's so dark, I can hardly see!" Zalèa complained.  
  
Piper felt around for the wall, but bumped against someone, or something, with her leg. _Uh oh..._ "Zalèa? Is that you?" she whispered hurriedly.  
  
"I'm over here," she said, from the other side of the room.  
  
There was a loud thunk and the heavy door to the chamber slammed shut. _That can't be good_, she thought fearfully. Whatever she had bumped into began to move, and make noise. Almost instantly, Piper felt a pair of hands grab her arm, causing her to scream.  
  
"It's just me!" Zalèa said.  
  
"Don't do that!" Piper snapped.  
  
"Sorry, I'm just freaked out," the Al Bhed girl said, her voice trembling.  
  
A light began to glow behind them, a candle. Then another beside it. Soon, the room was lit by a small circle of candles.  
  
Hesitantly, Piper looked down to see what she had run into.  
  
"Yuna!" Zalèa cried. She knelt down, shaking the young woman.  
  
Her arms and legs were bound together, but nothing was visible to keep her that way. The former summoner gasped for air, looking wildly from Piper to Zalèa. "You have to get out of here!" she croaked.  
  
"Yuna, what's going on?" asked Zalèa.  
  
The brunette tried to speak, but no words came out. Her eyes fluttered shut and her body became limp.  
  
"I'm terribly sorry, Lady Yuna," spoke a child's voice. A small girl with violet hair appeared behind them.  
  
Piper spun to face the little girl. "Who are you?" she asked.  
  
"I am Ahriana," she said, curtsying slightly.  
  
"What are you doing to Yunie?" Zalèa demanded.  
  
The girl smiled; she seemed so innocent. "You'll learn everything, soon." She waved her hand slowly.  
  
Piper staggered on her feet, the dim light of the room becoming less and less. Why did she feel so tired? Everything was becoming dark again...  


  


* * *

_"Piper... wherever you are, please... come back home." Aeris sat at the edge of her daughter's bed, crying softly.  
  
Piper looked at her mother. "Mom, I'm right here!" she said. She gasped quietly as her father walked through her body, as if she wasn't there. "What's going on?"  
  
"Any sign?" Aeris asked.  
  
Cloud shook his head, "She never went to the dance. No one saw her leave town either. It's almost as if she's disappeared." He squeezed his wife's shoulders, sighing softly.  
  
Piper looked around. Everything was so ethereal, so unreal. "Mom, Dad! I'm right here!"  
  
"They can't see you," said a young boy. He was dressed in a purple hooded cloak.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
The little boy shook his head, "You don't belong in Spira, Piper. You've endangered your new friends already."  
  
"How do you know my name? What are you talking about? How did I put anyone in danger?" Piper demanded.  
  
"Your mother brought Sephiroth into Spira. But he cannot act without her blood," the child spoke. "You have your mother's blood."  
  
Piper was beginning to get frustrated, and frightened. "Who is this Sephiroth guy anyway? Everyone seems to know, why can't I?"  
  
"You were never meant to know, Piper." _  
  
Piper opened her eyes slowly. Who had that boy been? And where was she now? A soft light glowed above her. Once it had mostly faded, she saw a woman with soft amber brown eyes and long dark brown hair.  
  
"Hi Piper," she said softly, a bright smile across her face. "It's nice to finally meet you."

* * *

Zalèa sat up groggily. Her head was throbbing and she was having problems focusing. She could see the figure of Piper beside her, and Yuna farther off. But that was it. Everything was such a blur. She wondered where she was now, and why had that little girl knocked her out. "Piper?" she whispered. No answer. "Yuna?"  
  
"I'm awake," the High Summoner whispered back. "Zalèa, are you okay?"  
  
"Yuna, what's going on?" Zalèa asked. She had never been so confused.  
  
Yuna sighed, "We're in a lot of trouble. Or at least Piper is."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Yawning, Yuna began to tell Zalèa of an adventure none of the children of Spira were to know. "Piper's mother, Aeris, came to Spira... a bit less than twenty years ago. She was trapped in the Farplane, along with Tidus."  
  
"She was dead?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And Tidus?" Zalèa asked.  
  
Yuna sighed again, "That's another long story."  
  
"Oh okay."  
  
She continued to tell how Aeris and Tidus escaped the Farplane, but brought with them Seymour and Sephiroth. She told about seeing them in their reflection, the Time-Porter, and finally defeating them. "I sent a letter with a time-key to Aeris, just in case one got lost. But she never came back. When Piper showed up, I really had thought it was Aeris. That night, the Fayth visited me in a dream. He told me Piper was in danger, and she'd put all of us in danger. So I wanted to find a time-key to send her home. I came to the temple and I was attacked by two people. One was Ahriana, the little girl dressed all in purple. And the other woman's name is Sephianna. I've never seen either of them before."  
  
Zalèa's vision was nearly clear now. She could see Piper's unconscious body lying on the ground, and wondered if she was okay. Looking around, she realized she had no idea where she was. But now she knew the story of Sephiroth, or at least she thought she knew. The mystery lurking around Piper's family was beginning to tug at Zalèa's curiosity. Why was there so much she didn't know?

* * *

_A/N: Sorry again it's so short. **To Beautiful Songstress**: Wait, he who? And the Evan/Piper is a POSSIBILITY! I have other things planned too! LOL! **To Siakia**: Sorry, but you're going to be confused for a long time. Everything will slowly make sense. **To tranquility: **Thanks! **To Dr. P: **Lol, thanks... dodges imaginary bat **To Aj-sama: **Thank you! **To Seashell110:** I'm sorry about the Al bhed translations, my translator was going berserk and I had to translate that all by writing down what each letter is etc etc and at the end i was just so tired i forgot it. It's there now tho! **To Emrelle Elendal: **If you REALLY wanna know the whole story about why I beat the Shuyin plushie to a pulp, it started the night I was up until 2 a.m. playing ffx-2 and I finally got into the Den of Woe (SCURY!) and well I sorta lost track of time and fell asleep right after I finished fighting Paine and Rikku then I woke up and missed the bus and my first two classes (oops) because I had the scuriest nightmare about it. I was Yuna, my best friend was Rikku, and another of my best friends was Paine. Anyways, then Shuyin (who was my ex-boyfriend and the guy i hate the most because i found out he was cheating on my at the time because... well... he was cheating on me with another guy! and he's just a jerk) But yeah, Shuyin was trying to kill us then when I got to school the next day (late) he came up behind me and I was still thinking about that nightmare and I screamed REALLY LOUD! And then I got detention for my third tardy and for disrupting classes. It was really dumb! Oops, that was really long, I bet you didn't want to know all that. Sorry! **To blushnbabe: **Oh okay! Lol!   
Chapter 5 will be coming soon (I hope!) LYL -Letselina_


	5. Escape

_A/N: Sorry for the wait; again, writer's block. But I finally brainstormed some decent ideas! And plus I was reading the Silver Wings trilogy (by akksgurl, it's awesome) and that kept me occupied. I won't have time to write until Monday, and I won't have a lot of time to update either because tomorrow I'm going to Sawdust Days (a fair) and going to see the fireworks and stuff then Sunday is Independence Day and such so I will be busy busy busy! Well here's Chapter Five, hope you like it!_

**-Chapter Five-  
-Escape-**

* * *

"Who are you?" Piper asked.  
  
The brunette smiled, "My name is Tifa Lockheart."  
  
"Tifa?" Piper said with wide eyes. _This was the woman who Dad was married to before Mom... wait..._ "Am I... dead?"  
  
"No," Tifa shook her head. "You're just unconscious."  
  
Piper sat up, taking in her surroundings. She seemed to be sitting on a cloud. Tifa was dressed in a white gown, a great contrast to the torn and dirty skirt she wore herself. "What happened?"  
  
"Piper, you are in a lot of danger," Tifa spoke, her voice calm but stern. "You have to get out of Spira."  
  
"How am I in danger? Why are all these things happening to me?" Piper wanted to know.  
  
Tifa sighed, sitting beside Piper. "Listen to me, you were never supposed to know about Spira. Aeris made a grave mistake by letting you know anything at all. It's best if you forgot everything about it, and Sephiroth."  
  
"Who is this Sephiroth guy everyone mentions anyway?" Piper asked. "I'm not getting home anytime soon, so why can't I know?"  
  
The young woman looked at Piper with wide, worried eyes. "Because it doesn't matter. Sephiroth is dead, once and for all. He'll never follow anyone out of the plane of the dead again."  
  
"Who did he follow out before?" Piper wondered, meeting her gaze.  
  
Locking her eyes with Piper's, Tifa said, "Your mother."  
  
"What?!" Piper exclaimed, her sapphire eyes blazing. "My mother is alive! She isn't dead!"  
  
"Piper, calm down!"  
  
She shook her head arrogantly. "No! I want the real answer! My mom is alive, tell me the truth!"  
  
Tifa ran her hands through her long hair, sighing again. "If you will keep quiet, I'll tell you everything I know."  
  
Piper closed her eyes, nodding slightly. _I need answers. The real answers._  
  
"It all began, many years ago. I grew up with your father, Cloud, in a little town called Nibelhiem. One day your father left our little town..."

* * *

Aeris sat on her daughter's bed, trying to think of any answer. They had searched all day, but there was no sign of her. She had disappeared. Being a mother, she thought the worst had happened. But another thought stuck in her mind. They had found the time-key in Piper's purse, just outside the door. "She must have gone to Spira by accident... but without the time-key, she can't get back," she assumed.

* * *

"...and then one day, she was back, almost as if she never left," Tifa finished.  
  
Piper stared down at her hands, almost looking past them. _How is any of that... possible?_ she wondered. "But what about Sephiroth? You said he followed her out," she said after a moment.  
  
"I don't really know. I only found out as much when I died," Tifa said quietly. She still hadn't told Piper how she had died herself, and decided it was better she didn't know. Of course, there were many loopholes in her story. She had explained their journey but said nothing about Sephiroth in Spira. The bright light around them began to fade. "You're being called back to Spira. Be careful, Piper."  
  
Almost as if from a dream, Piper awoke with a start, sitting up tiredly. Looking around, she realized she was in a hut, probably still on that island. _How did I get here?_ Glancing up, she saw her new friend staring at her. "Hey there, Zalèa," she greeted.  
  
"Piper! You're alive!" Zalèa cried out happily, squeezing the girl.  
  
Pushing Zalèa off, she asked, "What do you mean, I'm alive? Was I dead?"  
  
"Sorry, you've just been unconscious all day. We were starting to worry," the Al Bhed girl said sincerely.  
  
"All day...?" Piper leaned back against the head of the bed. "How did we get here?"  
  
"We don't really know. You, me, and Yuna were in this weird place, but you were unconscious. Then there was this strange light and we appeared here," Zalèa shrugged.  
  
Yuna walked into the hut, "Oh, your awake. Good." She tossed a small object to Piper.  
  
Turning it over in her hands, she realized it was a key, much like the one she had found the night before in her home. "What's this for?"  
  
"For getting out of here," Yuna said, her voice firm. "You can't be here any longer Piper."  
  
She stood up, trying to read the emotion in Yuna's eyes. "And how is this supposed to help?"  
  
"It's called a time-key. It will take you back to your home."  
  
Zalèa looked at Yuna, "Why can't she be here?"  
  
The high summoner shook her head, "If you knew, you'd be prone to death, or worse."  
  
The Al Bhed girl looked worriedly from Yuna to Piper, "And you're not?"  
  
"It's not open for discussion, Zalèa. Your mother and father are in Djose. Your airship is waiting outside the village to take you there," Yuna spoke. Her voice trembled ever so slightly, but she kept a calm, stern composure. "Now go."  
  
Emerald eyes blazing, Zalèa picked up her bag and stomped out of the room, muttering something in Al Bhed.  
  
Piper watched her friend's act, and wondered why she was so angry. What did Zalèa know that Piper didn't? She wanted to go home, but she wanted to know why, and how, she was putting people in danger. "Yuna, what's going on?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing is going on. Now take that key and walk out the door," she ordered.  
  
Piper shook her head, "I want to know! How am I a threat to everyone? And why can't I know about my own parents?"  
  
"Because, Piper, you are your mother's daughter. By coming here, you've awaken the Fayth and some dangerous people. If you stay much longer, you will end up being killed yourself and bringing the end to Spira. I can't let you do that," Yuna said, raising her voice slightly.  
  
"That's not fair!" Piper cried, "First that kid in purple tells me I've already put people in danger and I was never meant to know about Sephiroth. Then Tifa goes ahead and tells me everything about her journey, but why I've never heard about Meteor before is beyond me. And she told me that Sephiroth followed Mom out of the Farplane, but somehow he's gone now and she doesn't know anything about it because she died that tragic death so many years ago. But I don't think she died the way I was told. She was probably murdered too, like my mom. And how the hell is it possible that I'm here and alive today when my Mom was dead for five years? It just doesn't make sense!"  
  
Yuna looked at the young girl, her jaw dropped slightly. "You talked with Tifa?"  
  
"You know her too?!" Piper threw her hands up in aggravation. "What the hell is going on here?!"  
  
"Piper! Shh," the former summoner hushed. "Just take this letter and go out the door, okay?" she held out a piece of paper for Piper to take.  
  
"Hey, what's going on in here?" asked a blonde man who had just entered, Evan and Nari's father. "I heard yelling."  
  
Yuna smiled softly at her husband. She whispered something in his ear which made his eyes widen.  
  
Piper crossed her arms, _I want to go home..._ She knew this was true, but she wanted to know everything. Not just bits and pieces of the story. And she definitely wasn't going to find out anything at home. Or here. Someone else had to know though, right? Setting down the time-key, she took the letter and ran out of the hut into the warm summer night, hoping to catch up with Zalèa.  
  
"No! Piper!" Tidus called after her, both he and Yuna sprinting after her.  
  
"Zalèa!" Piper yelled, seeing her friend beginning to board a smaller yellow airship.  
  
"Piper?" the Al Bhed girl cocked her head to one side. She saw Tidus and Yuna chasing after her, and smiled. "Hop on!" she said.  
  
The copper haired girl followed Zalèa onto the small airship and they immediately took off, leaving the two adults in the dust. "Yipee!" she giggled.  
  
The blonde grinned, carefully driving the airship. "So, why were you running from them anyway?"  
  
"They want to send me home," Piper sighed. "But there is too much I have to know first. You think your parents can tell me anything?"  
  
"Sure," Zalèa said, "Next stop, Djose Temple!" She pushed some buttons on the main panel and stood up. "It's on auto-pilot. Come on, let's get you some better clothes." She led Piper into a small cabin, pulling out some rather skimpy clothing.  
  
"So is this your airship?" Piper asked, looking at the all green outfit.  
  
"Yup. It's called the Dandilily," she said, her nose scrunched up. "My mom named it."  
  
Piper laughed, "Which is why it's yellow, right?"  
  
Zalèa nodded. "Yeah, but I've had the Dandilily ever since I was ten. It's my first airship."  
  
"And you could fly it when you were ten?" Piper said, amazed.  
  
"We Al Bhed specialize in machina. I suppose what I lack in blitzball skills makes up with machina," she grinned. "Well you can go on and change; we'll be in Djose in no time. Of course, my mom will probably flip when she finds out we blew off Yunie and Tidus like that."  
  
Smiling, Piper thought about what her mother would do. She walked into the cabin and realized that she was angry with her mother and father. _They lied to me. For years. What else have they been hiding from me?_ she wondered. _And what will they do when they know I found out?_

* * *

"You let them escape?!" cried an angry Sephianna.  
  
"It wasn't my fault," the little girl, Ahriana retorted. "The Fayth helped her out."  
  
The woman with long dual-colored hair growled, looking at a sphere. "Where are they headed?"  
  
"Djose."  
  
"Good. Next time we use her," she said, pointing to a teen with cropped jet-black hair. She lay unconscious on a bed.  
  
The child raised a puzzled eyebrow, "The Kisaragi girl?" she shook her head. "We can hardly control her. She knows too much."  
  
"Yes, but she won't have enough time to tell all. As soon as she gets the Ancient near her, we'll take them both back," Sephianna smirked. "And this time, not even the Fayth will be able to stop us."

* * *

_A/N: Okay, just remember, Sephianna is the older one with long copper/silver hair and Ahriana is the little girl who's all purple. Don't worry if none of it makes sense now. It's not supposed to. But remember, Yuffie's last name is Kisaragi. That might tell you who it is if you payed careful attention a few chapters ago. **To Aj-sama:** Yup, that's exactly what happened. But how'd you guess it was Tifa? I thought most people would have guessed it was Lenne. Oh well. **To Emma:** Yeah, boyfriends are needed, but Tidus is! **To Lady Complicated:** What you said about her parents being famous, I took a lot of thought to that and why they aren't will be explained soon. (Maybe.) **To Anrisa:** Hurray! A new reader (i think) Anyways, thanks. **To Saikia:** Well I've basically talked to you in email so but believe me, I'm no competition to anyone either. There are a lot of REALLY good writers out there! **To Beautiful Songstress:** There will be a lot of trouble, probably for a long time. But the mushy stuff should be coming soon. The story took a turn I wasn't expecting. **To Dr. P:** Ha, someone agrees with me that last chappy was boring. More chapters probably will too --; oh well.  
Well like I said, I won't be able to update for a while so enjoy this chapter (and check out my other stories HINT HINT to keep you entertained hehe) But uh-- For those of you who live in the USA, Happy 4th of July and don't get blown up by fireworks... or burn yourself on hot BBQ food... or fall into a lake and drown... or get hurt or anything that would cause me to lose all these great reviewers! Hehe._

_**LYL- Letselina  
**Happy Independance Day_


	6. Yearning to Learn

_A/N: I've had a lot of inspiration over the past few days so I should be able to throw out a few decently sized interesting chapters. The story will be growing and there will be a lot of suspense, and I'm TRYING as heck to get the big romance I've planned in. Maybe I'll have to make another one after this... who knows. Well here's chappy 6._

**-Chapter Six-  
-Yearning to Learn-**

* * *

Piper looked at the amazing building. It seemed to glow, especially in the dim light of dusk, with the lightning that flickered around it. "Wow," was all she could say.  
  
"Yeah, it's pretty cool, huh?" Zalèa said, pushing open the door. "Tomorrow night, I'll take you to the Moonflow. It's amazeriffic!"  
  
Grinning at the her friend's made up word, Piper followed her inside the temple of Djose. Stopping for a moment in the doorway, she looked around, taking in everything. If what Yuna, the purple-hooded kid, and Tifa said were true, then she would have to leave Spira. Soon. But she wanted to know everything about it. Spira seemed to be full of secrets, much like her mother's lineage and Sephiroth. Putting the thoughts of leaving in the back of her mind, for a while, she let her eyes wander across the room. The temple was nearly empty, except for a two people sitting by a girl in the corner of the building. There were a lot of robots, which they called machina. Piper soon saw Zalèa's mother walking towards them.  
  
"There you are Zalèa!" her mother, Rikku, sighed. "We've been waiting all day."  
  
"Cunno," she apologized in Al Bhed. "We were talking to Yuna," she lied. Well, it was partially true.  
  
"Well we already finished everything," Rikku said, gesturing to the fully built machines.  
  
"Sorry. We, uh, lost track of time," Zalèa said.  
  
Piper looked at Zalèa, "Now what?"  
  
Shrugging, the Al Bhed girl said, "We can always do the Moonflow tonight."  
  
"Or you can go back to Besaid. I don't want you running around Spira, especially with the threat of..." Rikku stopped, then added, "uhm, fiends!"  
  
"Mom, I can handle fiends. I'm sure Piper knows how to fight too. Do you?" she asked.  
  
Nodding, Piper yawned. "Easy."  
  
"See, we'll be fine!" Zalèa said.  
  
"Piper!" cried a girl's voice.  
  
Everyone turned to face the young girl they had all crowded around before. She jumped to her feet, running towards Piper, "It's really you!" she sobbed, hugging her. She stood a little shorter than Piper, her jet black hair sticking to her forehead.  
  
Startled, and a bit creeped out, Piper pushed the girl off, "Who are you?"  
  
"Y-you don't reconize me?!" she cried. "Piper, it's me! Charis!"   
  
There was a familiar aura around her, but she looked different. _The Charis Kisaragi I remember was a strong, fierce fifteen year old. Not this scared girl..._ Dark scarlet colored eyes peered up at her with fear. She wore hardly any clothing; just a small sleeveless shirt and a pair of short shorts, both of which were torn and dirty. "Charis?" Piper echoed, "No way... what happened to you?"  
  
"You know her?" Gippal asked.  
  
Piper nodded, not taking her eyes off the girl, "Are you okay?"  
  
"Piper, you have to get out of here! This is a trap. If you don't leave Spira, or at least out of this temple, you're going to die! And so is everyone else!" Charis exclaimed.   
  
This caused everyone to back off, but it seemed to anger Piper. Stomping a foot, she yelled, "Why does everyone say that?! How am I a danger to everyone?!"  
  
"Just get out of here!" Charis shrieked, "She's coming!"  
  
"She who?" Zalèa demanded. "We can take on whoever wants to hurt Piper, right?"  
  
Shaking her head wildly, the girl shuddered, looking around the room. "Please! Get the hell outta here!"  
  
"Well fine, you're coming with me!" Piper said, her voice loud.  
  
"No! She'll find you!"  
  
"She who?!" Zalèa repeated.  
  
"Sephianna! Her power exceeds her father and her mother's! Now go!" Charis shook violently.  
  
Rikku tossed an object at Charis, causing her to freeze in place. "Okay, now we can get some answers."  
  
"What'd you do to her?" Piper cried.  
  
"Piper," Zalèa said, a bit worried now, "Sephianna was the name of the woman that Yuna said captured her." She tossed another item at Charis, causing her to unfreeze but in a much calmer state.  
  
"Please Piper," the black haired girl whispered. Tears began to fall from her eyes.  
  
"Who is this Sephianna?" Piper asked, trying to keep her temper down.  
  
"She's a witch. I told you her power exceeds her parents. She wants to use you to fufill her father's dream," Charis said, her voice trembling.  
  
"Who are her parents?" Rikku asked.  
  
"Yuna and--" she stopped suddenly, clutching her throat with her hands. Gasping for air, Charis stomped her feet as if trying to escape someone's grip. "Run..." she said in a tight voice.  
  
"Come on!" Zalèa said, grabbing Piper's arm and pulling her to the door.  
  
"Not without her!"  
  
"She'll be fine! Come on!" she cried. Suddenly the door opened, letting in a strong, cold gust of wind, putting out their only source of light.  
  
"Actually, she won't be fine," said a little girl in the doorway. Zalèa and   
  
"Yes, I told Miss Kisaragi to keep quiet but I fear she has disobeyed me," spoke a woman's voice from behind them.  
  
Turning, Piper saw a taller woman, who looked to be just a bit older than herself. She had long straight hair. It was colored silver and copper, making her wonder if it was naturally that way. But her mind didn't linger on the thought long; she saw a silvery rope wrapped around Charis' neck - the other end held by the woman's delicate hands. "What the hell are you doing to her?!" she screamed.  
  
"Hello Piper Strife," the woman said calmly, letting go of the rope. Charis' body crumpled to the ground, hopefully only unconscious. The woman walked towards her, "Your friend will be all right soon. Do not worry."  
  
"Who are you?" Piper growled, standing in a defensive stance. She knew she was weaponless at the time, but she could throw off an enemy momentarily, at least long enough to find a weapon.  
  
"Sephianna. You've been told of some of my better talents, I'm sure," she smirked.   
  
"We'd rather not stay to find out," Zalèa said nervously, also in a defensive stance.   
  
Her smile was maniacal, but almost soft. "Come now."  
  
"I'm not going anywhere with you," Piper said.  
  
"I fear you have no choice," she said, her bi-colored eyes sparkling. She began to raise her hand, but was knocked down by someone.  
  
"Zalèa! Piper! Run!" yelled Gippal, who had jumped the woman.  
  
"I don't think so," Ahriana said. She grinned, revealing a few missing teeth, just like a normal child of that age. She slashed her hand in the air, throwing both Zalèa and Piper into a wall of the temple. "You won't escape this time."  
  
Piper held her head, looking at Zalèa. "We have to get out of here..."  
  
The blonde nodded slowly, a gash across her head bleeding heavily. Piper guessed she hit the wall face first. But she began to slip out of consciousness, probably caused by the loss of blood.  
  
She saw Sephianna strut towards her, but had no strength to get up and fight. She wondered what had become of Gippal and Rikku. "What do you want with me?" Piper asked in a hoarse whisper.  
  
"You can fufill my father's dream," Sephianna said, kneeling beside her. Her voice was soothing, calming. Almost friendly. "And when that happens, he'll be gone forever. I'll never have to see his face again, or hear him order me around. You're helping me more than him. And Ahriana. You're helping her solve the same problem."  
  
"Don't worry," the soft childish voice of Ahriana said, "Everything will be over soon."   
  
She saw the girl clad in purple wave a hand over her face, and gently began to fall asleep. Again. _No..._ she thought tiredly. _I have to get out of here... she said... Sephianna is the daughter... of Yuna and someone... must be... Tidus... Have to... escape..._

* * *

_Piper sat on a bridge over the water, humming a soft tune. Her mother had taught it to her, called it the Hymn of the Fayth. It was a song of prayer that was used somewhere. She remembered the eerie far off look her mother had when she asked about it. It was the same sort of look she had when she asked about the people in the picture. She had heard it when she spoke with the purple-hooded kid. And she heard it again now, slowly growing louder than her hum.  
  
"Piper, I asked you to leave."  
  
Turning, she saw the child she had spoken with the last time she had fallen unconscious. "Who are you?" she asked again.  
  
"I'm a Fayth. What about you?"  
  
"You know who I am. I'm Piper."  
  
"Yes, but what are you?"  
  
"What?" Piper was now confused. "I'm a person."  
  
"Why are you so special, Piper? Do you know?"  
  
"No."  
  
"You have your mother's blood. Your presence here woke us up. We haven't been awake for over twenty years."  
  
"And what does this have to do with anything? About my mother being an Ancient or whatever that is?"  
  
"Yes. You have the blood of the Cetra race. You have to power to do many things here in Spira. And Sephianna knows this. She and Ahriana will stop at nothing to control you."  
  
"And that's why I've put people in danger?" Piper asked.  
  
"Somewhat."  
  
"Who is Sephianna's father? Is it Tidus? Charis said that Yuna was her mother."  
  
"It's not Tidus. He was one of our dreams. I don't know of any other child than Narianne or Evan."  
  
"Uhm, okay. That doesn't help much."  
  
"Please Piper, you must go home. I don't know how much longer we can protect you and your friends."  
  
"Well, thanks, but I'm not leaving until I get some answers."  
  
"Piper..."_  
  
"Piper! Piper! Piper! Piper!"  
  
"Huh?" she opened one sapphire orb then the other, yawning loudly. She saw standing above her Zalèa, Evan, and Narianne. _I'm safe again. Away from those people again at least._ "Hi guys..."  
  
"Piper, we are going to find out everything, we have to!" Zalèa said fiercely.  
  
"What happened? Where are we?"  
  
"On my airship," the Al Bhed answered.  
  
Nari punched her in the arm. "You," she said, "are lucky! If my mom finds out what's going on, she'll have you back in your home asap!"  
  
"She already wants me there," Piper sighed. "But I can't go yet."  
  
"Of course not!" Evan grinned, "You still owe me a game of blitzball!"  
  
"Evan, that's hardly a problem right now. There's someone who wants to kill her!" Zalèa argued.  
  
"Don't worry, if she can fight as good as she can blitz, she'll be fine," Evan smiled.  
  
_Am I really that good?_ Piper wondered.  
  
"Boys," Nari scoffed.  
  
"Now come on. We have some ideas," Zalèa said.  
  
"Let's hear them."

* * *

"'Not even the Fayth can stop us'," Ahriana mimicked Sephianna, an annoyed look on her face. "So what was that? The Unfayth or something?"  
  
"Just because you're trapped in a child's body doesn't mean you have to act like one," Sephianna growled. "We still have the Kisaragi girl, that's enough for now."  
  
"Oh I bet," Ahriana clenched her teeth. She was beginning to become annoyed playing the 'child' of their team. Soon she'd find a way, a better way, to capture the Cetra girl, and keep her long enough to finish their plan. Soon.

* * *

_A/N: If you don't know who Sephianna's father is by now, GOOD! I tried to leave some good hints but nothing too big. If you wanna take a guess, EMAIL me at ishietheshorthotmail.com That way if you get it right, no one will see it! **To Beautiful Songstress: **Thanks **To Tranquility:** No. Actually in FFX-2 Tidus and Yunie are reunited but when I first started Lost Love, I didn't know this. **To Emmy:** One word: Your Profile. **To Dr. P: **Lol, gee thanks!** To Saikia: **Well keep waiting heh.  
Chapter Seven coming really soon! Well a little delay from the stupid mosquito bites I have been plagued with. A lot!  
LYL - Letselina_


	7. I Know Everything

_A/N: Finally updating, YES! Unfortunetly, it's really short. Sorry. Oh and because someone emailed me complaining about some of the kids names being too familiar to other things and my always never putting up a disclaimer, so HERE YOU GO!  
  
**DISCLAIMER: **I have never said, nor do I now say, that I created FFX/FFX-2 or FF7. I own the game but not Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever the hell they want to call themselves now. I did however, write Lost Love and any dialouge or events tracing back to it are MINE. As are the kids (including Sephianna and Ahriana), except for Vidina because I would never name any kid that. The name Sephianna was created by my friend SquallsLioness. The names Nari, Loey, and Briar were inspired by the books Lady Knight (Kel) and Briar's Book by Tamora Pierce. And the name Rydia is from FF2 or FF4. Happy? GOOD!_  
  
**-Chapter Seven-  
-I Know Everything-**

* * *

Piper told them everything the Tifa and the Fayth had told her. About Aeris' journey with Cloud and Tifa, about how her mother died, and how everyone reacted when she came back. And about Sephianna being Yuna's daughter.  
  
"That's not possible!" Nari exclaimed. "Evan's my only sibling."  
  
"Yeah. Mom or Dad would have said something by now about another kid," Evan agreed.  
  
"Unless Tidus didn't know," Zalèa stated quietly. "She's not Tidus' child."  
  
"How'd you know?" Piper asked.  
  
Shrugging, Zalèa said, "The Fayth told you. I was there. Wherever it was."  
  
"Weird," Piper said. "So, what are your ideas?"  
  
"Your presence here in Spira woke up the Fayth. That means any living summoners can call upon the Aeons again. But it's strange because the Fayth didn't wake up when your mother came here. There must be something different about you," Nari said.  
  
"Something about my father?" Piper suggested. She sat down on one of the blue pillows thrown across the floor of the airship. She crossed her legs, thinking about anything that could help explain their situation.  
  
"Maybe," Zalèa said. "But your father was barely even in Spira."  
  
They continued to toss up ideas; who Sephianna's father could be, why Yuna had never mentioned her, and what they really wanted with Piper.  
  
"I give up," Evan said, throwing a pillow at his sister. "We've come up with every idea possible with what we know. And nothing makes sense."  
  
"Then we have to find out," Nari threw the pillow back, "more information. Then we can do this again."  
  
"Yeah but who's going to tell us?" Piper asked.  
  
Zalèa plopped down on a couch. "No one. We're just going to have to find out ourselves."  
  
"Look how far that's gotten us," Evan sighed.  
  
"Well I know someone who can help us," Zalèa grinned.  
  
"Who's that?" Piper wondered.  
  
"Shinra."  
  
Piper tilted her head at the name. Shinra was the name of the company that had been killing the Planet many years ago. Maybe this was just a coincidence. "Who's he?"  
  
"Only the smartest guy in the Spira!" Nari said excitedly. "He travelled with the Gullwings!"  
  
"Exactly," Zalèa said, "He'll know just what happened and what's going on." She jumped up to the front of the bridge, pushing a few buttons. "To Home!"  
  
They reached Home quickly, and boy was Piper amazed. It was the biggest building she had ever seen, and from the her friends had told her, it was like a small city. A lot of people were speaking the Al Bhed language, so she hardly understood a word anyone said. She'd make Zalèa teach her how to speak it later. They led her through a long hallway to a giant gray door. "Is this it?" Piper asked.  
  
Nodding, Evan knocked a few times on the door. A robot eye popped out of the door, looking at them, then quickly retracted back inside. After a moment, the door slid open. "Anyone home?" he called.  
  
"In here," a male voice said.  
  
The group entered, the door sliding shut behind them. "Shinra?" Zalèa said, walking into the next part of the room. Robots ran around the area, some floating in the air. Parts and tools were thrown haphazardly across the room. A short male sat at a giant computer screen, his fingers flying.  
  
"Hello Zalèa, Evan, Nari, and..." he paused looking at Piper. Standing up, the short Al Bhed circled her, tapping a finger against his temple. He dressed in baggy tan pants and a blue top, his short blonde hair brushed in every which way. He looked to be in his early thirties. "Unbelievable," he spoke after a moment. His boyish features and voice showed he was surprised and excited.  
  
"Shinra, this is Piper. Piper Strife," Evan introduced.  
  
"A direct decendent of the last living Ancient and the mercenary. Amazing. Used a time-key, I presume?" Shinra said, his emerald eyes blazing with curiosity.  
  
"Uhm, yes?" Piper scratched the back of her head.  
  
"Shinra, we need your help," Nari said.  
  
The Al Bhed genius gave a soft, almost smug, grin, "Well I know everything, I should be able to help."  
  
"We need you to tell us about Sephiroth and my mother, Aeris. In Spira," Piper said. "And what connections I have with the Fayth."  
  
"And who Sephianna's father is," Zalèa chipped in.  
  
"And what her father's dream was," Evan finished.  
  
Shinra took in a deep breath, then began to tell them of his adventures with the Gullwings, three years after the defeat of Vegnagun. How they found Tidus and Aeris, and how Sephiroth and Seymour followed them out of the Farplane. He did his best to explain the use of the Time-Porter to reunite Aeris with her friends, and how everything went from bad to worse in a matter of days. Then, the final battle which Seymour had murdered Sephiroth. "Then Aeris and Cloud left, and never returned."  
  
Piper leaned against the wall of the room, closing her eyes. _There's so much I don't know..._ She was confused, but mostly angry again. Angry that her parents had kept all this from her and her brother. It wasn't _that_ big of a deal. "So why have the Fayth awaken? They said it was 'cause I'm in Spira."  
  
Shinra sat down at his computer, typing in a few things. "My guess is Sephianna and Ahriana woke them. They have an incredible amount of power. It seems to be drawn from the planet itself."  
  
"Mako?" Piper guessed. "In my time, people used power from the Lifestream, and the planet. It was a lot of power but it was killing the planet, and my mother's people." This much she knew, from her history class.  
  
"It's a similar concept, yes," Shinra said, digging through a drawer. He pulled out an old, dusty sphere. "This sphere might clear up some confusion about Sephianna and Ahriana."

* * *

  
  
_A/N: Sorry such a fricken short chapter, and a cliffhanger (sort of). I've been in pain because Sunday I wiped out on our moped and it's really gross and I just haven't had the ambition to work on this (which is why I've started a lot of stories lately.) I'm hopefully going to get going on this; I need inspiration! Talk to me or send me an email if you have any ideas or just to say hi, it gives me a reason to write. Geez! Only three reviews... oh well, it's kinda blah at the moment anyways **To blushnbabe**: OKAY! To **Dr. P: **You probably are right, it's kinda obvious with the name, Sephianna... hmmm... **To Emmy: **Good! Feel wbbbed! er loved! Heh. Oh oh oh, I've been reading your ffx fic and that's what inspired me to write Otherworld hehe. Did I write 'your profile' oops. i meant just profile. Oh well. And I'm like that for games too - for ffx-2 I knew Tidus was coming back (all the magazine clips and internet screenshots gave it away) but I didn't understand the whole Shuyin/Lenne thing, I just thought Lenne was cool looking and Shuyin had this... strange look to him even tho he looked like my bud Tidus.  
  
Well next chapter is coming soon, with LOTS of answers, and will bring my favorite, Paine! back into the story along with her Al Bhed counterpart, Neal. Heh, something fishy's going on you know! Well I don't expect too many reviews for this so, that's all right. (Aww I'm getting all choked up, playing FFX near the end... I'm gonna bawl at the end...)  
  
Always - Letselina _


	8. Not Your Average Confusion

_A/N: And I thought this update was going to be long. NOPE! Hopefully the next one though. This chapter starts out right away with the sphere Shinra has._  
  
**-Chapter Eight-  
Not Your Average Confusion**

* * *

_It was a dark, damp cave. The soft pitter-patter of rain could be heard outside. "Sephy...?" a little girl whispered. She was just a toddler, with violet eyes. Ahriana.  
  
Another toddler with hair down to her feet whispered back, "Over here." Sephianna. Her teeth chattered as she wrapped herself up in a small blanket.   
  
"Why aren't we home? Where are we?" the small girl clad in purple asked. She curled up next to Sephianna, crying softly. "I want to go home."  
  
"Don't worry. We'll find a way." Sephianna had a soft, but determined frown on her face.  
  
"What do we have to do?" Ahriana asked. She seemed so innocent, so afraid.  
  
"My father want us to finish his mission. He wanted to save Spira, by recreating the Promised Land," Sephianna told. She hugged Ahriana like she was a younger sister. "We have to wait for another Ancient to come to Spira."  
  
"How long will that take?" Ahriana inquired.  
  
"I don't know..." the long haired girl said quietly. She leaned against the other girl, closing her eyes.  
  
After a moment, Ahriana gasped. "Sephy. There's someone in here," her voice quivered as she stared straight into the sphere.  
  
The other girl stood up, her face becoming dark and angry. "Who's there?" she called out. Nothing. "Who's there?!" she repeated, her voice rising. Sephianna crossed her arms and she began to emit a soft blue light. "I'm warning you. Show your face!"  
  
"Going to hurt me, are you?" said a male who was operating the sphere camera. "Two little girls?" He neared the two.  
  
"Back off!" Sephianna cried, her aura flaring.  
  
Whoever was holding the sphere dropped it, gasping for air. His upper body wasn't visible, but his hands flew up, probably to his neck. "Please...stop...!" he gasped.  
  
Ahriana came into view, an amethyst colored aura surrounding her. Her tiny fists were clenched tightly. "Who are you?!" she demanded. She unclenched her fists a little.  
  
"I can help you," he said, breathing hard.   
  
"Let's hear it," Sephianna said, still watching him like a hawk.  
  
"I know about the Promised Land. I know who, when, and where the girl you need is. Her name is Piper, and she's coming." The young man kicked his foot at the sphere, and it turned off._  
  
"Who was that?" Piper asked.  
  
Shinra shrugged, "That I don't know. What I do know is he's an Al Bhed male who by now is probably around forty years old. The sphere was recorded about sixteen years ago."  
  
"Wait a second," Zalèa said, "That means Sephianna's father is Sephiroth. That was his plan, wasn't it?"  
  
The Al Bhed genius nodded. He set the sphere back in the drawer and closed it. "She is his only child."  
  
Nari sat down on the ground. "How is that possible?"  
  
"How is what possible?" Shinra asked.  
  
"Yuna is Sephianna's mother," Piper looked from Evan to Nari then back to Evan. _Yuna and Sephiroth... How?_ Even though she was trying to send Piper back to her home, Yuna didn't seem like a person who would do _that _with an evil man bent on world destruction. But then again, what did Piper know about Spira anyways?  
  
Shinra stood, speechless. "Yuna never had any child other than you two. Whoever told you that was wrong."  
  
Piper tugged at a copper strand of hair. _Then who could it be? _she wondered. "Why would Charis lie?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe she didn't," Evan said. "But Shinra, why can't you figure out who that Al Bhed was?"  
  
"I've never had the time. It'd take some extensive research and forensic study of the sphere," Shinra answered simply.  
  
Zalèa spun around in one of the chairs in the room. "Can you try? We really have to figure this stuff out fast."  
  
Shinra pulled out the sphere again, and sighed. "Fine. Just don't tell anyone else about it. I have a hunch on who it might be and it will stir up a lot of trouble if I'm right. Come back this afternoon and it'll be done."  
  
"Thanks Shinra! You're the best!" Nari grinned, "Come on guys. We have work of our own to do!" she said, leading out the door.  
  
"What? Now where are we going?" Piper asked, being dragged along by Zalèa.  
  
"Besaid," Zalèa said as they boarded the Dandilily.  
  
"What for?" asked Evan. He was as confused as Piper.  
  
Zalèa pushed a few buttons and set the airship on autopilot. "The time-key."  
  
"What?" Piper cried. "I'm not going back home. Not yet!"  
  
"Of course not!" Nari said, her blue eyes glittering. "But we might need it for escaping."  
  
"Escaping what?" Piper wondered.  
  
Nari shrugged. "The adults."  
  
Evan fell back on a chair, "So what do we do if they attack again?" Both he and Nari seemed to have dismissed the idea of Sephianna being their sister and replaced it with more important thoughts.  
  
Piper had almost forgot about that. She was open to attack from those two at any time. And the Fayth had said he might be able to save her again. They'd have to fight next time. She had enough materia with her, but she wasn't as comfortable fighting people as she was fighting fiends. And the power those two held were so great, it'd be impossible to fight, let alone win. Going back to her home seemed like the best idea, but what would that bring? They would find a way to travel through time and follow her. Or they would get her new friends like they had Charis. Flopping down on another chair, she sighed loudly. She was already confused to begin with, and it was only getting worse. They'd probably just have to wait until Shinra found out who the Al Bhed man was. That was something that was beginning to bother her. Shinra had said the sphere was recorded sixteen years ago. She was sixteen. How would he know anything about her? She might not even have been born when the sphere was recorded. Yet, she had been. When the sphere was recorded, she had long since been born, lived, and died. Her home was five thousand years in the past. Nothing made sense anymore.  
  
"We'll have to hope for the best, I guess," Nari said after a long silence.

* * *

_A/N: HOPEFULLY it will be the next chapter that has the big Paine thing in it. When I started planning this story, it was supposed to be more a romance-y story but that's not working as well as I had hoped. I'm going to plan out the rest of the story today (and hopefully the rest of all my other stories) so I can get everything straigtened out.   
To the drawing board! AWAY!   
**To Emma: **Wow some of that is a LITTLE bizarre. I had all these weird ideas and rumors too tho. Like Nooj was Seymour's half brother (same mother) and I believed it because of their hair heh. And Lenne (which I pronounced Lennie, dunno why) was Yuna's wannabe since Yuna became a singer (And somehow Yuna became a songstress... yeah) and there were a lot of other things too. Oh and Shuyin's name was Shuvin and it just sounded like a vacuum cleaner name. Oh well. Yah you have to update too Emmy. ::pulls out own Toxic Fish that YOU gave me and holds lemon stik in other hand (oh Gawd, don't ask)::   
**To SmkViper**: Thank you very much. I know there are some mistakes because my computer is super-retarded and the spellcheck goes haywire once in while (mostly because of the Al Bhed language) and don't worry, I tell people about their mistakes all the time, go ahead and nitpick mine to death, it prolly deserves it. And the final fight in Lost Love was yes, short and boring, but I planned that out for a reason which you will all soon (actually prolly not for a long time) figure out.  
Only two reviews this time...? Oh yah, this chapter was only up for a day, nvm. That's not bad. Okay okay I'll stop talking. I'm off to the drawing board. And I want some guesses on who the Al Bhed man is and who Ahriana's parents are (you'll never guess that, I bet!) And did anyone notice the joke on Yuna - (Even though she was trying to send Piper back to her home, Yuna didn't seem like a person who would do _that _with an evil man bent on world destruction) - because of like Seymour... and stuff... okay maybe it wasn't _that_ funny but it was at the time I wrote it.  
Always - Letselina _


	9. The Best

_A/N: I'm officially stopping making promises about long updates. Now we're going to cause a little more confusion, then in the next few chapters, everything will be understood. The chapter title "The Best" means, this is the best they can get. You know, since the last chapter ended with "Let's hope for the best" yeah, you get it?_  
  
-**Chapter Nine-  
-The Best-**

* * *

The Dandilily landed outside Besaid Village. It was a quiet morning, even for Besaid. Piper, Zalèa, Nari, and Evan hid behind a hut, watching everything carefully. They knew if any of the adults caught them, Piper would be sent home, and the others would never see the light of day for a long time. Yuna and Tidus exited their hut, walking across the path.  
  
"I just hope she went back to her home," Yuna said quietly.  
  
Tidus smiled at his beloved, "You really think she would? If she's anything like her mother, she's probably out finding all the answers."  
  
"Along with Narianne and Evan," Yuna said, causing the blonde to stop in his tracks. "And Zalèa."  
  
"Meaning we'll have to deal with all the questions," Tidus moaned. "Not fair."  
  
Yuna chuckled, "You can explain the dream of the Fayth part."  
  
"Oh ha ha, very funny," Tidus punched her playfully in the shoulder. They walked into another hut, where Zalèa and her parents lived.  
  
"Dream of the Fayth?" Nari looked at her brother, puzzled.  
  
"Who knows," he shrugged.  
  
Piper grinned. She wasn't the only one stumbling through the dark in her parents' pasts. "Well come on guys, let's go!" she said in a hushed whisper.  
  
Nari and Evan led them through the tall green and yellow weeds behind the huts. They had explained they had a special door in back for late night returns. Opening the small flap, they found themselves in most likely Nari's room. "Now where did you put the key?" Evan asked.  
  
"On a table in the other room," Piper said. They walked into the next room where Piper had woken up two days before. "Here it is!" she said, picking up the time-key.  
  
"Good, now let's get out of here!" Zalèa said, peeking out the front entrance. "Oh crud! Hurry up!" she whispered hurriedly.  
  
"Who's coming?" asked Nari.  
  
"Paine and Neal!" she squealed. "Run!"  
  
There was a massive scramble for the back door, but it didn't go well. Zalèa tripped over Nari who fell to the ground. Nari grabbed Piper's leg, causing her to fall into Evan, knocking them both to the ground. "Ow! Can you get your foot out of my face?" Piper asked someone.  
  
"That doesn't matter! We're going to get caught!" Zalèa hissed.  
  
Piper didn't even know who Paine and Neal were, but they were probably friends of Yuna's. That was not good.  
  
A couple walked into the hut, looking at the four teenagers sprawled over the ground. The young woman dressed in all black, her silvery gray hair worn just below her chin. "What's going on here?"  
  
"Nothing!" all four exclaimed at once.  
  
"That can't be too comfortable of a position, can it?" the man laughed. He was an Al Bhed, his blonde hair cropped short. "Need some help?"  
  
"Uhm, no, that's okay!" Evan said, climbing out of the tangle. "We were just leaving anyway."  
  
"Okay," the woman shrugged. "Where's your parents?"  
  
"At my house," Zalèa answered quickly. They managed to untangle themselves and get up.  
  
The woman stepped back, looking at Piper again, "Are you...?"  
  
"Yes, I'm Aeris' daughter," Piper answered, a bit annoyed. Just how many people here knew her mother?  
  
"Well when you go back, tell her Paine says hi," the woman smiled crookedly.  
  
"I'll do that," she assured. The two reminded her of Andre, one of the guys she had played blitzball with a few days before.  
  
The young man looked at her, tilting his head slightly to one side. "Nice to meet you Piper."  
  
"Yeah, nice to meet you too... uh... Neal?" she guessed.  
  
Neal nodded, his emerald eyes locked with hers.  
  
"C'mon!" Nari hissed. "Let's go!" she pulled on Piper's arm, dragging her out of the hut.  
  
Piper sprinted after the others back to the Dandilily, clutching the time-key in her hand. _What was with that guy...?_ she wondered. He gave her the creeps, just looking at him. Especially the way he looked back at her. _And how did he know my name?_

  


* * *

Charis Kisaragi shivered, her teeth chattering. She was wrapped up in a bundle of old, thin blankets, wishing to get out of the cold. The place appeared to have been abandoned long ago. She had found a sign buried under the snow outside that said, "Lake Macalania Travel Agency." Her cropped black hair dripped cold pieces of ice onto her forehead, and they melted down along her face. It was hard to remember any other time she had been so cold. There was one that stuck in her mind. When she came to Spira. She and her mother had lived in Midgar ever since she could remember. They lived in her best friend's old house. Then, about three weeks ago, she found a strange key hidden in the wall. She hadn't meant to make the hole there. Usually her practice shuriken would bounce off the wall, but this time it had punched out a square hole. When she asked her mother what it was, she began to go into one of her extremely hyper modes and continually talked about someone named Rikku. Apparently, she knew what it was for and how to use it because she grabbed Charis' hand and ran out the door with her.  
  
Charis remembered the instant freeze that her ran through her body as she fell into a deep pile of snow. It was unbearably cold, and there was no one around. The wind howled around her, kicking up loose snow. She couldn't find her mother anywhere, and remembered thinking she was going to die. She must have been in the snow for at least an hour, and it was beginning to get dark. That was when she first met Sephianna and Ahriana. Ahriana was a sweet little girl, or so she thought. And Sephianna seemed so kind. They both helped her down the mountain and brought her someplace warm. Mount Gagazet they had called it. She didn't care much, just as long as she never had to be that cold again. Sephianna and Ahriana asked her about herself, and she just poured out everything she knew. About Midgar, her mother, and her best friend, Piper. It didn't seem to bother her at the time how much they asked about Piper. She must have told everything she knew about her, but she wished she could have taken it all back.  
  
What surprised her most was the intelligence the girl Ahriana held. She was only about seven years old, but claimed it was because of a spell gone wrong that she had been trapped in a child's body. Ahriana and Sephianna offered to help Charis around Spira and find her mother, but in return, she had to help them on a mission. If she hadn't been so deathly sick at the time, she would have asked about the mission, but instead, readily agreed. Then Sephianna touched her shoulder, and a strange, black symbol appeared there. Occasionally it burned, or itched, but she never knew what it was for. Sephianna and Ahriana began to tell her everything. Who their parents were, what ties they had to Piper's mother Aeris, and Aeris' story. If that hadn't scared Charis enough, they told her what they had to do to succeed in their mission.  
  
It was something she could never bear to do. But there was no escape. Not even in death. They had told her, they could bind her spirit to Spira, and she would be 'undead' until she helped finish their mission. Charis wanted to go home, but she didn't even know how she had gotten to Spira in the first place. She finally found Piper, just a few days ago. Sephianna and Ahriana warned her not to speak a word about the mission, or them. She didn't care. All she wanted to do was convince her friend to return back to her home before it was too late.  
  
Somehow, the two had found out she was spilling all she could about them. They stopped her. When she woke up again, she was in the snow at Lake Macalania. Left to freeze to death. Only to be bound to this world, kept away from the next. At fifteen years of age, she wondered how she could live to tell the tale. Her mother had defeated Sephiroth and Meteor, a secret she must have planned to always keep from her as Aeris kept it from Piper. Charis knew everything now. But she didn't want to. She wanted to go home.


	10. More Good News

_A/N: SHORT update. It would have been longer and up sooner but I was working on it this morning when the stupid sky decided to have a stupid storm and stupidly turn off the stupid power and stupidly erase all i had done that morning. Then, I went and threw some of my anger off at GTA:VC and then I had to clean my stupid room (which took like 2 hrs hehe) OKAY I know you don't care that much and prolly just want to read it. It's a short update but it explains the main reason that Sephianna and Ahriana need Piper. And I promise you won't like it!_

**-Chapter Ten-  
More Good News**

* * *

"No way!" Nari and Evan chorused.  
  
"How can that be?" Zalèa asked. "How'd he know about Piper?"  
  
"I went back in time and placed a sphere in the Den of Woe, about five minutes before they arrived," Shinra said, holding it in his hand. "Want to watch it?"  
  
Piper nodded quickly. She knew there was something creepy about him. Maybe he'd explain how he knew about her.  
  
Shinra looked nervously at Piper then sighed, turning on the sphere.  
  
_The endless black of the Den of Woe was everywhere. The only light was the pyreflies. Two little girls were huddled in a corner. "Sephy. There's someone in here," Ahriana said, her voice trembling.  
  
The other girl stood up, her face becoming dark and angry. "Who's there?" she called out. Nothing. "Who's there?!" she repeated, her voice rising. Sephianna crossed her arms and she began to emit a soft blue light. "I'm warning you. Show your face!"  
  
"Going to hurt me, are you?" said a male who was operating a sphere camera. Neal. "Two little girls?" He neared the two, a smirk across his lips. Emerald eyes blazed with power.  
  
"Back off!" Sephianna cried, her aura flaring.  
  
Neal dropped the sphere, his hands flying to his neck. It must have been a spell because both the girls were too far to strangle the man themselves. "Please...stop...!" he gasped.  
  
Ahriana came into view, an amethyst colored aura surrounding her. Her tiny fists were clenched tightly. "Who are you?!" she demanded. She unclenched her fists a little.  
  
"I can help you," he said, breathing hard.   
  
"Let's hear it," Sephianna said, still watching him like a hawk.  
  
"I know about the Promised Land. I know who, when, and where the girl you need is. Her name is Piper, and she's coming," Neal smiled as both girls lowered their defenses.  
  
Ahriana crossed her arms, standing beside the other girl, not much shorter than she was. It was a strange sight; a fully grown man intimidated by two toddlers. "When?"  
  
"Over sixteen years. The girl hasn't even been born yet," Neal said. For an Al Bhed, he spoke the Spiran language well, with an accent of some other unknown culture. "But when she does come, make sure she does not befriend the children of the last summoner and her friends."  
  
"Then we just get her over Mt. Nibel and everything will be okay," Sephianna said.  
  
"It's no longer called Mt. Nibel. And the town under it is no longer Nibelhiem," Neal spoke. He knelt on the ground, so he was eye level with the two girls. "It's Mount Gagazet, and the ruins of Zanarkand." He glanced at Ahriana, "Your father will be there."  
  
The girl, clad in violet, shook her head. "He is dead. Over five thousand years dead."  
  
"Of course. You'll see soon," the Al Bhed smirked again. "Do you know what to do once you take her to Zanarkand?"  
  
"Summon Odin," Sephianna answered smartly.  
  
Nodding, Neal said, "Correct. Summoning Odin will perform the right amount of sacrifices for the Ancient."  
  
"And Jenova will be reborn in her," Ahriana said, a childish, toothy grin appearing on her lips.  
  
"The Promised Land will return. Spira will be a thing of the past," Sephianna giggled.  
  
"Come along. I'll show you the world you once knew," Neal said, taking the two girls out of the cave._  
  
Piper stared at the sphere, her face emotionless. _Jenova_. She knew the name. Her father had spoken about it once to her mother. She wasn't supposed to have heard, but she was curious. _Curiousity killed the chocobo_, she repeated the golden phrase in her mind. If she hadn't been so curious, she would have left. _What if they got me?_ she wondered. _Jenova, the bringer of the Promised Land, would be reborn. In me. I would kill every person in Spira, and return to death myself._ She shuddered, biting down hard on her lower lip. "I'm going home," she announced.  
  
Zalèa looked at Piper, almost hurt. "What for?"  
  
"Jenova... it's... not good," Piper said quietly. "Odin is a god of death. He will kill... a lot of people. Jenova," she closed her eyes stretching back into her memories of eavesdropping on her parents. "Jenova is, in a sense, the mother of Sephiroth. He was created from her essence. If Jenova is reborn, Spira is done for."  
  
"So?" Nari said, with extreme confidence. "We won't let them get you!"  
  
"C'mon Piper," Evan said, smiling slightly, "You can't give up now."  
  
Copper locks fell in her face as she shook her head. "No. If I don't go home, you could all die. Don't you get it?"  
  
"Yeah," Zalèa nodded. "But you don't think we're going to let ourselves die, do you? We have names to live up to. Apparently, so do you."  
  
"But if you want to leave, go ahead," Evan shrugged.  
  
"We're still going to figure out what Neal has to do with any of this and how half of this is possible," Nari said.  
  
Piper looked at her new friends. The adventure seemed thrilling, and daring. It was tearing her up inside. She wanted to stay in Spira, and fight for her right to live. But going home was the only sane answer. "Sorry," she shook her head. "Just tell me how to work this and you guys can be on your way," she said, holding out the time-key.  
  
"Walk through the door," Shinra said, "and think about anything in your home."  
  
Waving softly at her friends, she thought about her little home in Kalm. She closed her eyes, stepping through the sliding door. Nothing happened. When she opened her eyes, she was on the other side of the door. "Why didn't it work?" she asked.  
  
"It might be broken," Shinra said, walking over to an older, dusty door in the back of the room. It seemed pointless, a door that could be walked around. "This is the Time-Porter," he said proudly. Pulling out a keyboard on the side, he began to type in something long. He finally pressed the final key, and a bright light flashed.  
  
"Home," Piper whispered. She could see the first room in her house. It was lit up, but no one was in there.  
  
"Just step through," Shinra instructed.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Piper waved again to her friends, "Bye," and closed her eyes, stepping through. She felt an odd sensation, like being torn in two. She opened her mouth to scream, as the sensation became pain, but nothing escaped her lips. A moment later she fell on the ground. Not in her house. She wasn't home. That was for sure. When she opened her eyes, she saw a rocky terrain. Old, destroyed buildings. A girl with purple hair. _Shit.

* * *

_   
  
_A/N: Egad, purple hair. Well now we know she's in trouble. And she's in a place she doesn't know ::coughZanarkandcough:: yeah. **To Saikia**: of course I have a reviewer plushie of you. But your not the shortest. I am. I'm 5'1 so HA! Lol. **To Emmy**: OH NO! ::tackles Emma and superglues her to Evan:: There. Now you can stay here and be blissfully happy. Hehe. **To shortygirl**: Cool. Nice hearing from you again. **To Lady Complicated**: All questions will be answered soon. Very soon.  
Definitely making this series a trilogy or longer. Romance is being put off until the next story. ::goes to change the genres:: Always - Letselina_


	11. Losing Hope

_A/N: I was hoping to get this story up faster but a lot of stuff is coming up this week so updates will probably be short and choppy. This story is going to be a bit shorter than Lost Love because I'm planning the third story and most of it wouldn't fit as well in this story._

**-Chapter Eleven-  
Losing Hope**

**

* * *

**  
  
"Welcome to your father's hometown," Ahriana said sweetly.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Piper asked. She didn't really care where she was at the time. Just how to escape. She was surrounded by tall cliffs, and seemed to be sitting in the middle of a path. It was definitely an old path, but maybe not used much. What amazed her, though, were the large vortexes of water to her far right.  
  
"Over five thousand years ago, this was the place where your father grew up. Where Sephiroth began his terror. This was Nibelhiem," Ahriana spoke. "Beyond is Mount Gagazet, or as you might know it, Mount Nibel."  
  
"What is it now?" Piper inquired, somewhat interested. She didn't know how she could have gotten to a different continent. But something told her, she was still in Spira.  
  
"This is the city of the dead. Where summoners would end their pilgrimages and go on to defeat the monster called Sin. Welcome to Zanarkand, Piper Strife."  
  
Closing her eyes, Piper cursed under her breath numerous times. _Someone, help me. Or at least Spira..._ she sent out her hopes that someone would find her here. No. All her friends now thought she was back home. Maybe someone would follow her through. She opened her eyes, walking toward the strange vortexes. "What are these?" she asked. She vowed not to let them see her fear. _Where's Sephianna? _she wondered.  
  
"Those are Fayth," Ahriana answered.  
  
_Fayth. _Maybe she, and Spira, would be saved. Piper reached her hand out, running her fingers along the stone near them. It seemed to be a statue of many people. She hardly knew anything about Spira, or the Fayth. She just knew they could help her. For the first time since she had come to Spira, she was homesick. _Why me?_ Glancing at the girl clad in amethyst, she noticed something different. Something she hadn't seen before. Although the girl was facing mostly the other way, it was easy to see she was troubled. A single, crystalline tear trickled down Ahriana's face. True innocence. "Are you okay?"  
  
Ahriana looked at Piper with soft eyes. "Leave me alone," she said quietly, her innocence finally matching her soft voice.  
  
Piper turned back to the rocky cliff, confused. _Guess everyone has to have a heart._ She wanted to ask what was wrong, but she feared the child's power too much to bother her. _Why isn't she trying to capture me?_ Probably because she already had her there, and just needed to wait for Sephianna. Tracing the indents in the stone, she recognized one of the figures in the stone. "Yuffie...?" she whispered. Clinging to the rock, a young woman with short hair framing her face stared back at her with stone eyes. Everything began to darken around her, and Piper feared falling unconscious. _Not again..._  
  
"Piper. Open your eyes," said a familiar voice.  
  
Her world flashed then Piper found herself sitting in a small flowerbed before a few gravestones. Sitting beside her was the black haired ninja. "Yuffie, is that you?"  
  
"Yep," she said, turning a flower over in her hand. "Do you know what this place is?"  
  
Piper looked around, "I think so..."  
  
"This is your mother's church. She used to tend to these flowers every day when she lived in Midgar. Before she met your father and before Sephiroth returned." Yuffie seemed unusually calm and serious. Her dark amber eyes were sincere, yet almost afraid. She looked worn and tired.  
  
"Am I home?" Piper asked, excitedly.  
  
"In your mind, yes. But the other Fayth and Yuna don't understand that you can't go home yet," the ninja spoke.  
  
"Yeah, that Time-Porter thing sent me to Zanarkand. Yuffie, am I going to..." she couldn't complete her sentence, and just hoped Yuffie understood what she was talking about.  
  
"That's for you to decide Piper." She looked at Piper. "I know you've seen my daughter. But you have to forget all about her. Understand? You have to help Ahriana and Sephianna."  
  
"Help them?!" Piper cried, "They want to destroy Spira!"  
  
"Not quite. They are under the control of Jenova. I know Tifa told you all about Jenova but Sephianna and Ahriana can't control themselves at times. They want to go home, just like you." Yuffie placed a hand on Piper's shoulder, "This is more serious than you might understand. If Jenova is reborn in you, her essence will leave them and join yours. You can't let that happen. There aren't enough summoners or people to stop you. Spira will be done for."  
  
Piper had already guessed this. _Doesn't anyone have good news?_ "Yuffie, what about Charis?"  
  
"She, too, is under Jenova's control. But she doesn't know it. Her father will claim her soon, and she will be sent out to do what she was fated to do. Piper, you have to stop her before it's too late," Yuffie said.  
  
"Stop her? From doing what?" Piper demanded. She wondered what Yuffie meant by 'stop' her daughter.  
  
Yuffie bit down on her lip, "I've been here for over a thousand years. I watched Sin destroy Zanarkand, and kill thousands. I became a Fayth as directed by Yu Yevon. Piper, Charis, like me, is a Fayth. But she doesn't remember any of it. Something... happened."  
  
Piper's head began to hurt. Who was Yu Yevon? And she 'became' a Fayth? "What was it?"  
  
"I don't know. And it doesn't matter. You have to stop her, Piper. You have to kill my daughter."  
  
"What?!" Piper yelled. "I can't kill my best friend!"  
  
Yuffie shook her slightly, "You have to. If you don't, you will die. So will everyone else."  
  
"No! I can't kill her! If it has to be done, have someone else do it!" she shouted. Suddenly her world shifted again, and she was standing in Zanarkand again. "Gee, thanks Yuffie," she muttered to the stone figure. _I could never kill my friend_. Hell, she couldn't kill anyone.  
  
"It's about time you came back," Sephianna said. She obviously arrived while Piper was 'gone'. Her dark smirk was twisted as ever. "The summoning will begin soon."  
  
Standing beside her was a taller girl, about Piper's age, decked out in purple. "Enjoy your last few hours," she said with an equally dark grin.  
  
_Is that Ahriana?_ she said in her mind. It looked like her, except older. Had she been gone for years? No. Couldn't have been. Of course, she didn't understand anything anymore. Anything was possible. That was all she knew.

* * *

Charis Kisaragi stood on the top of a building, watching Piper, Sephianna, and Ahriana carefully. She had sensed her mother nearby, and hoped she had warned Piper about her fate.  
  
"She won't believe your mother anyway. She doesn't know anything about you."  
  
"I know," Charis said quietly.  
  
Standing beside her was a young man, dressed in a white lab coat, his black hair pulled back in a ponytail. "Then why do you want her to come after you?"  
  
"I want her to stop you," the girl replied. Her fierce brown eyes glared at the rocky terrain as she crossed her arms across her chest. "You don't deserve to do this to her. To me. To Spira."  
  
"But it won't be me who does it. It will be you, my daughter," he said with a tone of wicked humor in his voice. He chuckled quietly, setting a hand on her shoulder.  
  
Charis shuddered. "Don't. Touch. Me. I don't care who you think you are. You are not my father."  
  
"You belong to her, Charis. Just like Piper's fate belongs to you," the man said.  
  
There was nothing more Charis wanted than death. But even that had been stolen from her. She wasn't allowed to do anything she wasn't 'fated' to do. "Screw fate," she muttered. "I don't want any part in it."  
  
"That's the funny thing about fate. You don't have a choice."

* * *

"So do you think everything will be okay now?" Nari asked. She looked at her brother and her best friend, both who were staring at the Time-Porter. "Hello?"  
  
Zalèa glared at the infernal device. She knew something had gone wrong. Just a gut feeling. "No. I don't think it will be."  
  
"Why do you say that?" Narianne questioned.  
  
"I just know it, okay?" Zalèa retorted. "We have to go after her."  
  
Evan glanced up, "And get in more trouble than we already are?"  
  
"Might as well," Zalèa said, standing up. "Are you two coming with?"  
  
"I suppose," Nari shrugged.  
  
"Better than staying here," Evan grinned.  
  
Together, the three stepped through the still open portal, hoping Shinra wouldn't come back for a while. But they didn't appear in the quiet, homey living room they had seen. "Is this...?" Nari looked around, taking in her surroundings.  
  
"But if Piper's here..." Zalèa bit hard on her lip.  
  
"We're all dead meat," Nari said fearfully.  
  
"Zanarkand," Evan said in awe.

* * *

  
  
_A/N: One review...? Well fine, Emmy just gets the spekkal reviewer reward :P Hehe. Nah, I'm sure you're all busy or something (me too) so I'll let it go. Heh. Boy, oh boy do I have a lot more to write in a short time. Summer's almost over! (Sort of) I don't want to go back to school! ::bawls:: Oh well. Uhm, otherwise I'll just keep updating and hope you're all at least reading it. And if you have an idea who Charis' "father" is, you are probably right.  
Always - Letselina_


	12. A Few Answers

_A/N: Here is the much waited chapter with a few answers about Piper, Charis, Sephianna, and Ahriana. Of course, no one was really waiting since I haven't gotten any reviews... _

**-Chapter Twelve-  
A Few Answers**

**

* * *

**  
  
Piper groaned inwardly. Her arms were sore from the position she was bound. Her hands were tied together above her head by a rope. _Ooh, scary_. It was done terribly, but they said something about not being able to use magic. _Yay!_ she had thought excitedly. But she was still outnumbered and they looked physically fit, at least enough to stop her. She just wished that Ahriana would walk away so she could run. Blowing a few strands of hair from her face, she tried to formulate a plan. She knew she could escape to Mount Nibel, or Mount Gagazet, as it was called, but then she'd probably get lost and freeze to death. Since they couldn't use magic, it'd be hard for them to track her if she ran into the ruins. There had to be a place in there that she could find sanctuary, at least for a little while.  
  
"Comfortable?" Ahriana asked, a giant grin on her face. It was still a little strange, seeing her as a grown teenager instead of the young toddler.  
  
"Oh loads," Piper answered bitterly. She couldn't feel, or bend, her fingers anymore. "Where's Charis?" she inquired. It was something that had been poking at her curiosity for a while. She hadn't seen her friend, but they had said something about her being there.  
  
"With her father," Ahriana yawned. She seemed bored.  
  
"Father?" Piper echoed. She didn't know anything about Charis' father. It even seemed Yuffie didn't know much about him. "Who's her father?"  
  
"You wouldn't know him, even if I told you," Ahriana sneered.  
  
"Oh, right," Piper sighed. She needed more answers so she could know exactly what she was up against. _Yuffie told me I have to... kill Charis. I can't do that... Why would I have to?_

* * *

Zalèa, Narianne, and Evan crept across the ruins of Zanarkand. All three knew the land well, but they were still afraid. Afraid that Piper might already be dead, or maybe Piper hadn't even gone there. "I give up," Nari sighed loudly.  
  
"We can't give up!" Zalèa hissed. "We haven't looked everywhere yet, and I'm not leaving knowing Piper could still be down here!"  
  
"Calm down," Evan ordered. "If you guys start fighting now, they might find _us_ and we'll be in a lot of trouble."  
  
"Are you looking for Piper?" a soft female voice said.  
  
All three froze, and slowly cowered. "Who's there?" Nari called quietly, her eyes searching the terrain.  
  
"Sorry." A female figure appeared in front of them, but was slightly transparent. She had bright, emerald eyes, and long copper hair, like Piper's. Her smile seemed to assure she wasn't there to hurt them. "Are you three looking for Piper Strife?"  
  
"Y-yes," Zalèa stuttered. "W-who are you?"  
  
"My name is Infalna," the woman introduced, "Infalna Gainsborough. I am Piper's grandmother."  
  
Evan and Nari glanced at each other, then back at the ghostly figure. "Are you... alive?" he asked.  
  
She shook her head, copper locks bouncing against her face. "No. I haven't been alive for a very long time."  
  
"What do you want?" Nari questioned.   
  
Infalna smiled again, as if she didn't quite realize she was just an apparition, a ghost. "I'm here to help you. There are things you have to know before you can fight Jenova."  
  
"Fight Jenova?" Zalèa echoed, "We're going to get Piper out of here... She is here, right?"  
  
"Yes. Piper stands at the base of Gagazet, waiting to be stripped of her very life," she said calmly.  
  
Zalèa winced at the thought, "Well, are you going to help us get her out of there or are you just gonna stand there?"  
  
"There are things you have to know before you can even try," Infalna said. "Piper needs help. You must convince her to kill the girl named Charis."  
  
"But that's her best friend from her home!" Nari said, "She wouldn't do that... I think."  
  
"Exactly. You must tell her why she and Charis cannot live in the same time era any longer."  
  
Evan scratched his head, "Why's that?" He shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously, beginning to wonder if he was ever going to understand anything about the girl who had come to Spira.  
  
"Piper has the blood of the Cetra race. So does Charis. But Charis has the blood of Jenova, and her son Sephiroth. It is destiny that one should kill the other." Infalna sighed, "Charis is the true reincarnate of Sephiroth. Not Sephianna."  
  
Zalèa crossed her arms over her chest, taking in the information. "But Sephianna's father is Sephiroth..."  
  
"No. Sephiroth and Yuna both contributed to Sephianna's existence but neither of them knew they had done it."  
  
"Okay, head hurts. What are you saying?" Nari asked, rubbing her temples.  
  
Infalna continued, "Seventeen years ago, the lady summoner Yuna was reunited with her lost love and guardian Tidus. He had been gone for five years."  
  
"Where was he?" Evan asked. He had never heard this story about his parents.  
  
"In the Farplane."  
  
Three jaws dropped, "What?!" Nari exclaimed.  
  
"He was a dream of the Fayth," Infalna continued, calm as ever, "The machina war of a thousand years ago ended with Zanarkand's destruction by Sin. The few who survived became Fayth, and summoned a dream. They created a different Zanarkand, with Sin or summoners. There were two 'dreams' who were touched by Sin and brought to Spira. Tidus, and his father, Jecht. Jecht traveled with Lord Braska, Yuna's father, and they beat Sin. But not for good. Only Tidus, Yuna, and her other guardians were able to defeat Yu Yevon and defeat Sin forever. But when Yu Yevon disappeared, the Fayth stopped dreaming."  
  
"So Dad was in the Farplane for five years. But how'd he get out?" Evan wondered.  
  
"He met my daughter, Aeris. With his connection to Spira and her Ancient powers, they were able to escape the Farplane and live once again. But Sephiroth, and the half Guado, Seymour--"  
  
"Followed them out. Shinra told us," Zalèa interrupted, uninterested in hearing the long story again.  
  
"Yes, but there was a point in time where Yuna was trapped in a dark abyss. This abyss was her mind. All the pain she had gone through in her life had finally caught up to her. Here in this abyss, she saw many things. Sephiroth was able to control what she saw, and for a moment, their spirits were as one." Infalna looked lazily across the rocky terrain and continued, "Sephianna was born."  
  
"So what about Ahriana?" Evan asked. "The same?"  
  
"Yes. Ahriana, too, was created from the spirits of Yuna and Sephiroth. But it was the opposite. Where Sephianna was created from Yuna's light and Sephiroth's dark, Ahriana was created from Yuna's pain, and Sephiroth's innocence."  
  
Nari snorted, "Sephiroth's _innocence?_ The man wants to destroy all of Spira!"  
  
"Yes, but at one time, he was the same as you. Just a curious child. The truth drove him insane. He was a creation. Nothing real about him. He was a puppet of Jenova." Infalna said sadly.  
  
"Okay..." Nari rolled her eyes, not believing what was being said.  
  
"And Charis?" asked Zalèa.  
  
"Charis is the reincarnation of Sephiroth. She was created by parts of Jenova's spirit, and my daughters'."  
  
"Yet, she's Yuffie's daughter?" Evan said. He had overheard Rikku saying how she looked just like a girl named Yuffie, who Shinra had mentioned in his story as one of Aeris' friends.  
  
"Yes. Yuffie found the pod where Charis was being created and by touching it, Charis joined her, and was born nine months later," Infalna said.  
  
"O...kay..." Zalèa said. Some of it made sense; most of it was too weird.  
  
"Charis must start the bringing of the Promised Land by performing the ritual known as 'Seven Blades'. As Piper slowly dies from the ritual, Odin will be summoned. And Jenova will take over Piper's mostly-dead body," Infalna spoke without a tone of disgust in her voice, but it could be easily seen in her pretty features. She was becoming more and more transparent with each passing moment, a sign that she was leaving.  
  
Nari clutched her stomach. "I think I'm going to be sick," she whispered.  
  
"We have to get Piper out of there!" Zalèa yelled. "We can't let her die!"  
  
"Right!" Evan agreed. "You coming Nari?"  
  
His twin nodded, trying to squeeze the image from her mind. "Let's go."  
  
"Good luck," the nearly invisible Infalna wished.

* * *

Charis followed her 'father' down the hill, toward the area where Sephianna and Ahriana were holding her best friend Piper captive. Her world had turned upside down in a matter of weeks, and now she was in a position of kill or be killed. The 'Seven Blades' ritual was bloody, and sickening. She got nauseous thinking about it. Her throat was sore from constant screaming at the man in front of her. He had 'created' her. She wasn't real. She was an experiment. One of the only experiments he said he had done right. At least, close to right. She wasn't ever supposed to refuse her 'destiny' or orders given to her by her superiors. She was supposed to be perfect.  
  
Perfectly _evil_.  
  
Charis didn't want to be seen as a killer. She wanted to be seen as a normal fifteen year old girl who liked to party. Maybe that's what explained her aggressive behavior at times. The feeling of wanting to see her opponent or enemy suffer. It was because she was created. From Jenova. And Aeris.  
  
She looked into Piper's blazing sapphire eyes, full of sorrow and confusion. Seven sharp, but short, daggers appeared around Charis. She didn't know what to do.  
  
"Go on, Charis," her creator ordered.  
  
_'Kill me,'_ she mouthed to her friend, _'Kill me now.' _

* * *

_A/N: Oooooh.... Cliffhanger. Sort of. I'm not updating again until I get some reviews tho. O.O Take that you poop heads. (Okay, Emmy, has an excuse. She told me she'd be gone :P) But the rest of youse don't! Well mebbe you do, and that's great then. You just all better be having fun and not reviewing instead of not having fun and not reviewing. Heh. Oh and Infalna **is** Aeris' mother's name (her real mother, not Elmyra). It mentions her once in the game when peeking down at the Shinra guys when trying to save Aeris.  
Always - Letselina_


	13. S Cop A

_A/N: The title of this chapter is S-Cop-A, if you say it right, it says ESCAPE the way Dory off Finding Nemo says it. Yeah. I already had a chapter named Escape so I couldn't really do another one. Anyways, sorry for the wait (and it a short update anyways) but I was swimming like 24/7 and now I'm sick as a dog and I have major sunburn (stupid parade, can you believe they make us go to school in the middle of July to MARCH in the stupid parade?) so I got down on my lazy butt as usual and typed up a chappy. This story is coming to an end... soon... I dunno when. But soon!_

**-Chapter Thirteen-  
S-Cop-A**

* * *

Piper Strife could feel her blood racing. The fear of death was getting to her, and she was beginning to think it really was the end. But she wasn't afraid as much as she was confused. Charis had just told her to kill her. _I can't!_ she wanted to scream back. It just wasn't her. The sharp blades danced around her body now, waving menacingly near her skin. She knew her bounds were still poorly done, and she could escape. But, to where? And who was the man behind her... he seemed familiar in some way... Well it didn't matter. She was getting out of here. And she was taking Charis with her.  
  
She scanned the area, looking for a way to escape. Something yellow stood at the peak of a hill farthest from them. _The Dandilily!_ she thought excitedly. _We're saved!_  
  
"Piper," Charis whispered.  
  
"Do it!" the man hissed.  
  
Sapphire eyes glared at the girl, and they seemed to have a good understanding.  
  
"No!" Charis yelled loudly. The seven daggers flew in all directions, causing the two young women and the strange man to dive to the ground.  
  
"Run!" Piper shouted, breaking free. She took Charis' hand in hers and they sprinted up the hill. _Where are they?! _she screeched in her mind.  
  
"Get back here!" a furious Ahriana screamed, chasing after them.  
  
The Dandilily stood at the top of the next hill, "Nari! Evan! Zalèa!" Piper called out, hoping they'd hear her as she continued to run with Charis.  
  
"Piper!" three ecstatic voices chorused. The trio waved wildly from the Dandilily. "Hurry!" Zalèa ran inside, starting up the small airship.  
  
"Come on!" Piper said, running faster, Charis on her heels.  
  
"Don't let them get away!" shrieked the man who seemed to be controlling Charis.  
  
Piper pulled Charis with her, hoping she wouldn't fall. "We're almost there!" she yelled as the Dandilily's boarding bridge began to open.  
  
"I can't!" Charis cried. She pulled against her friend, trying to free herself.  
  
"Yes you can!" Piper shouted. "Ignore them and come with me!" She stepped onto the bridge, pushing Charis in front of her as it began to rise. "Get us out of here!"  
  
Charis Kisaragi fell to her knees, sobbing loudly as the airship began to lift into the air. "No! I have to go back!"  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Nari asked. She and Evan came down to help them while Zalèa drove.  
  
"I have to go back!" she shrieked, crawling against the wall. Charis looked at the three with wide, dark eyes.  
  
Evan dug something from his pocket, and tossed it at Charis. "This will help."  
  
Whatever it was, it caused Charis to silence, and fall asleep. Piper guessed it was a sleeping potion. "Thanks guys," she said hoarsely. Her throat was sore from shouting. "But how'd you know where to find me?"  
  
"We went through the Time-Porter. Something's definitely messed up. You shouldn't have ended up in Zanarkand," Nari said, handing Piper a blanket.  
  
"Well I'm just lucky I saw the Dandilily before it was too late. Charis was going to perform the ritual. She wanted... me to kill her. Can you believe that?" Piper shook her head, wrapping the blanket around herself.  
  
"Actually..." Evan looked at the ground sheepishly.  
  
Piper shook her head, laying down Charis' body and throwing the blanket over her. "No," she said sharply. "I don't care what anyone says! Charis would never try to kill me. And I will never do anything to hurt her, or kill her!" She stomped angrily from the cabin area to the bridge.  
  
"Piper! You have to listen!" Evan followed behind her. "You said it yourself! She was just about to begin the ritual."  
  
"But she didn't! That's what matters!" Piper said, plopping down on a chair.  
  
"We talked to your grandmother, Piper. She told us a lot," Nari said.  
  
"That's impossible. She died when my mother was a little girl," Piper sighed, glaring out the window.  
  
Zalèa sighed, too, getting up from the navigation panel. "Just listen, Piper..."

* * *

"What did you say?" the dark haired man asked, becoming infuriated.  
  
"They got away. We can't use our power here, you know that. The Ancient took Charis with her," Sephianna said, her head low. She expected no mercy from the merciless monster who had forced them to work for them.  
  
Hojo, as he used to be called, let out a loud growl. "Damn it! Damn it all!"  
  
Ahriana crossed her arms, "It's not our fault. You shouldn't have let her live with that Fayth all her life."  
  
Hojo swung his fist across his body, firmly connecting with the violet girl's face. "I'll tell you what went wrong!" he hissed. "If you two hadn't followed your father's path so easily, none of this would have happened."  
  
The girl, clad in amethyst, clutched her jaw, trying to ignore the sharp pain. "Goahe! I hih!" she mumbled through her probably broken jaw.  
  
"Then go back to your home, little girl!" Hojo snarled, throwing something at her. There was a small blast, and the Ahriana disappeared. "You go too!" he hissed at Sephianna, doing the same. "Unlike Sephiroth, Charis will obey me. And she will succeed in _our_ mission."

* * *

Ahriana opened one amethyst eye, gasping for air as the other opened. Her jaw hurt terribly, but she doubted it was broken. The room she was in looked comfortable. It was painted a light blue, a chocobo border around the wall. She was in a soft bed, the light from the window just above her head. Sitting up, she saw someone beside her. "Sephy?" she whispered.  
  
"Hi Ahriana. Guess what...?" the young woman said, her bi-colored eyes sparkling.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're home. Aeris' home."  
  
Ahriana smiled weakly, "You mean...?"  
  
A brunette woman walked in, her emerald eyes glittering, "Glad to see you two are awake. Are you all right?"  
  
"Yes. Thank you Aeris," Sephianna smiled.  
  
"How did you know my name?" Aeris asked, puzzled.  
  
"We know all about you, Aeris. But your daughter is in trouble... a lot of it too," Ahriana said softly.  
  
Aeris sunk in the chair beside the bed, "Where is Piper? How do you know?"  
  
"We just met with her. She's trapped. In Spira."

* * *

Piper closed her eyes, wishing upon every god or goddess she knew that she had never come to Spira. Her three friends had just told her everything Infalna had told them. "I can't do it..." she lamented. "I just can't."  
  
"But Piper, this is your life we are talking about. Everyone in Spira too!" Zalèa said softly. "You have to do it."  
  
"I can't," Piper repeated.  
  
"Spira is the spiral of death. It's always been this way. For over a thousand years. Someone always has to die," Nari said. "Whether it's a summoner, a soldier, or just an innocent child that's being controlled by a twisted entity. They have to die."  
  
"It's not fair," Piper said.  
  
"Hey, just think. She wants this all to end. She doesn't want to be stuck here anymore. She has been for a thousand years. That's like, the beginning of time practically," Evan chuckled, "You know in your heart, what you have to do."  
  
Piper nodded, _Get the hell out of here._ "Yeah. I just need to think about it..." she said quietly, "I'm going to get some sleep..." she said, standing.  
  
"Piper," Zalèa hugged her friend tightly. "Remember, we're here for you."  
  
"Yeah," Evan agreed, "Because when we get home... we'll be in more trouble than you are now."  
  
"Thanks guys," Piper smiled weakly, walking back to the cabin. Charis was still asleep, now on one of the beds. _Good._ She needed to think, a lot. Curling up in one of the beds, Piper stared at a giant chocobo poster on the ceiling, drifting into a light slumber.

* * *

_A/N: If anyone is confused, basically what happened is Charis and Piper escaped, but something weird is going on with Charis. Piper was told what the trio was told by Infalna, and Ahriana and Sephianna were sent back in time (5000 yrs). Oh and when Ahriana says "Goahe! I hih!" she's saying, "Go to hell! I quit!" but since her jaw is broken, you know, it's hard to talk. Anyways, I hope this chapter wasn't TOO disappointing.  
**To Seashell110:** OK glad you got most of it. **To Emmy:** I'm LOVING it. How'd you know? And when are you going to update your story... hmm? **To **Chippy** Dr. P:** Well I'm glad you took time from your book reports to read my stuff! Hehe. Anyways, you should read Tamora Pierce! She's an awesome writer!! **To Lady Complicated:** That's okay. I'm sick too. I hope you get better   
Well I'm thinking nobody is going to like the ending of this story... I have the next few chapters written out, but I have to edit them still. They'll be up faster than this, I hope.  
Always - (the sick) Letselina_


	14. A Dream Or Something More

> > _A/N: This chapter was supposed to go up August 2nd, but see... I sort of broke the rules... and I couldn't post until Friday, the 6th. But I was camping so I couldn't post until today._   
  
-**Chapter Fourteen-  
A Dream or Something More**
>> 
>> * * *
>> 
>> _Piper was kneeling down on a platform, praying her heart out. She wasn't sure what she was praying for, or even where she was. A young man stood in front of her, a sword looming ominously in his hands. She tried to see his face, but it was too hard. All she could see was a pair of luminous turquoise eyes. She knew it was someone important to her. Someone she loved. He seemed to be struggling against himself, trying to pull the sword away.   
  
"What are you doing?!" a familiar girl with dirty blonde hair shrieked.  
  
"Cdub! Tuh'd rind ran!" a girl cried in Al Bhed.  
  
Something stirred behind her, and suddenly... everything began to go black. Looking down, she saw the slender katana that had been thrust through her body. She managed to turn her head, and saw a pair of dark amber eyes. "Charis..." she mustered the strength to mutter. How could she betray her like that? Slowly, her body fell to the ground. She knew, she was dead_.  
  
Piper shot out of her bed, breathing heavily. _Why..._ she wondered, _Why were the people revealed to me this time?_ Evan... Nari... Zalèa... Charis... _No!_ She wouldn't believe it. She couldn't! She saw that everyone was still asleep, and there was no light entering the room from the window. iIt was just a dream. Go back to sleep. Laying back on her bed, she closed her heavy eyelids, hoping for a dreamless sleep.  
  
_Piper. What are you doing here? Why didn't you go home?  
  
"I tried! Really I did!"  
  
Did you? Did you really want to go home...?  
  
"Well... no."  
  
Then you know what you must do.  
  
"I won't kill Charis! Never!"  
  
Piper, you have to. It's your destiny. Kill or be killed.  
  
"Well I'm going to change my destiny!"  
  
It won't work. Nothing you do works. You know that. Kill her. While she's asleep. Don't let her suffer any longer.  
  
"No! Shut up! I won't do it!"  
  
We're dying Piper. Because of you. It's all your fault. If you don't stop this, we will suffer even longer.  
_  
"Go away!" she screamed. Piper opened her eyes again, scanning the room quickly. What were these voices in her head? Who were they and why did they haunt her when things were bad? The sun was up and throwing light into the white bedroom.  
  
"Bad dream?" Nari suggested.  
  
"Huh?" Piper sat up, realizing Nari and Zalèa were awake too. "Yeah... I guess so."  
  
"Me too," Zalèa put in, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders. "I've had the dream before, but this time, it was different." The Al Bhed yawned, "Usually I was standing near this platform, and someone was kneeling on it. It felt like it was someone I really cared about. Then there was someone with a sword near her, and me and another person kept yelling at him." The blonde shivered, "Then someone came from behind the girl on the platform and... killed her."  
  
"Weird, that's the same dream I had... except this time the people were revealed!" Nari exclaimed. "You and me were the two people yelling at the guy with the sword--"  
  
"Who was Evan," Piper added.  
  
"Yeah! And you... Piper! You were the girl who was praying!" Nari gasped.  
  
"And the person who killed you was..." Zalèa trailed off.  
  
"Charis..." Piper whispered, glancing at her friend's sleeping body. "How long until the sleeping potion wears off?"  
  
"It already did. She's just sleeping," Evan said, walking in the room. "You guys won't believe it. I had the strangest dream again..."  
  
"We know," Piper whispered, pulling her knees to her chest. "I have to get home... that's the only way I can... save Spira."  
  
Evan tilted his head, "There is... another way, you know."  
  
"No!" Piper yelled, "No! No! No! I won't do it!"  
  
"But Pi--" Zalèa began.  
  
Piper covered her ears, "No!"  
  
The three looked down, helplessly. "Piper, we're just trying to help," Nari said.  
  
"I know!" Piper cried out. "But think about it. If everyone told you that both you and Zalèa couldn't live in the same time period, and your only choice was to kill her, would you?"  
  
"There are worse things than death, Piper." Charis had woken up, and seemed to have calmed down. "I want you to."  
  
"But Charis!" Piper begged, "I can't!!"  
  
The girl looked away, her jet black hair falling in her eyes. "Piper, you know the truth, don't you? I've been here for a thousand years. I don't want to live anymore. Jenova controls me almost all the time. If I'm not careful, I'll kill you."  
  
"We will find another way," Piper said sternly. "I won't kill you and you won't kill me. Okay?"  
  
Charis sighed, looking at Piper. "You don't have much time."  
  
_It's just not fair._ "I know." Pulling her messy copper hair behind her ears, Piper stood up. "Do you guys believe in destiny...?" Although she didn't want to admit it, the voices that had spoken in her sleep were haunting her. _Kill or be killed..._  
  
"What do you mean?" Zalèa asked, her emerald eyes sparkling.  
  
"Like..." Piper put a finger to her cheek, as if in thought. "Like your guys' parents. They're all famous and stuff, right?"  
  
"Don't remind me," Nari heaved a loud sigh.  
  
Piper smiled a bit at her friends' reactions, "Well, do you think it was destiny for them to do all that stuff? Like with Sin and Vegnagun?"  
  
Evan sat down on one of the beds, "When you put it that way," he looked at her carefully, "Yes."  
  
"Why?" she asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.  
  
"Because things could have easily gone the other way. It could've been worse, you know?" Evan leaned back.  
  
Piper tilted her head to one side, "So you think it was destiny that they all lived and saved the world a lot of times?"  
  
"Guess so."  
  
"Oh," she replied softly. _But I still won't do it. I'll find a way home... I have to,_ she thought.  
  
"Piper, it won't work. You know you have to do it," Charis said quietly. "It's destiny. Fate."  
  
Shaking her head, Piper left the room. She knew that they would only bring it up again. _How could Charis WANT me to kill her?!_ she thought as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. _I know I wouldn't, and don't, want her to kill me!_ "There's nothing I can do..."  
  
"Piper... you have to do it."  
  
Looking deeper in the mirror, Piper saw the speaker. "...No way..."
>> 
>> * * *
>> 
>> _A/N: Two reviews...? Sheesh, oh well. A little cliffhanger, but since this is a triple update, you'll know who it is right a way. Darn. This chapter is really short, but the next one is longer. _


	15. Reunion

> > _A/N: Here's a decent update!  
_  
**-Chapter Fifteen-  
Reunion**
>> 
>> * * *
>> 
>> "Mom!" Piper shrieked, running to the wide arms behind her. Throwing her arms around her mother's neck, she began to cry. She felt silly, but it didn't matter.  
  
Aeris hugged back her daughter, "Shh." She smiled, looking at her daughter, her emerald eyes glittering. "Piper, are you okay?"  
  
Nodding, Piper wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I just can't believe it's you! How'd you get here?"  
  
"Come on," Aeris said, leading her out of the bathroom. "Your dad is here too."  
  
Piper grinned. One thing had gone right today. _And, so far, I'm not in trouble!_ she laughed to herself, remembering her early fears. "Mom, how'd you know I was here?"  
  
"Two young women came to us. They told us everything that's happened, and we're here to help." Aeris smiled as they walked onto the bridge.  
  
"Dad!" Piper laughed, hugging him tightly.  
  
"Hey!" Cloud chuckled, "How you doin' kiddo?"  
  
"I missed you!" She planted a kiss on her father's cheek, "I just can't believe you guys are here..."  
  
"Well, the time-key helped a lot," Cloud said, "You need to be more careful with that."  
  
"The time-key? But when we tried it, it didn't work. I was sent to Zanarkand!" Piper said.  
  
"Because of Ahriana and Sephianna. They made that happen," Aeris explained.  
  
"How do you know?" Piper asked.  
  
"They are the two women who came to us," Aeris said.  
  
Piper's jaw fell, "Mom! They want to kill me!"  
  
"No, they were controlled by Jenova," Cloud said, "Don't worry. They are still back home."  
  
"Hey! What's going on in here?" Zalèa's voice rang out as she entered the bridge.  
  
"Hiya Z," Piper said, in a much better mood than she had been moments before. "This is my family."  
  
The Al Bhed girl nodded, looking over the three newcomers, "Welcome to the Dandilily," she grinned.  
  
Aeris looked at Zalèa, "You must be Rikku's daughter."  
  
"How'd you guess?" the blonde wondered.  
  
"I knew your mother. She got pregnant with you while I was in Spira," Aeris chuckled, thinking of the past.  
  
The twins, Evan and Nari, walked onto the bridge, "Hey, who are you people?" Nari asked. Introductions were thrown around quickly, and Aeris couldn't help but realize how alike the children were to their parents.  
  
"So you're the famous Aeris," Evan said, "We should probably reunite them with our parents," he said to Zalèa.  
  
"Yeah, and we'll get in trouble," the Al Bhed sighed.  
  
Piper watched the interaction between her parents and her new friends. All she could think about was going home. Now that they were here, she was sure she could go back with them. But she wondered if she wanted too. iI'd probably never see any of them again.../i she thought sadly. She would miss her new friends dearly, but home kept calling her.  
  
"Charis? Is that you?" Aeris spoke suddenly.  
  
The black haired girl walked in, smiling brightly. "Hiya Aeris!"  
  
"Where's your mother?" Cloud wondered.  
  
Charis shrugged, "I don't really know. She's a Fayth."  
  
Piper thought about telling about her talk with Yuffie, but decided not to. _Not yet anyway._ "So are we going back to Besaid?"  
  
"Looks like it," Zalèa said, jumping into the navigational seat. "To Besaid!"  
  
Cloud sat down by his daughter, grinning. "So you have any fun here in Spira?"  
  
"At first," Piper answered. "I know," she whispered, "all about Sephiroth."  
  
The ex-SOLDIER sighed. "Well, then you know."  
  
"I know about Tifa too," she said quietly.  
  
Cloud paused, "What do you know?"  
  
"Well, she's sort of like my step-mother, right?" Piper asked.  
  
"In a sense."  
  
"And she traveled with you and Mom."  
  
"Yes. And?"  
  
"What else should I know?" Piper faced her father with curious, matching sapphire eyes. Silence. "Dad?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
Piper sighed. _Fun. More secrets._  
  
"Hoo boy," Zalèa said, "Here come the adults."  
  
Nari groaned, "See yah Piper. We'll probably never see the light of day for a few years."  
  
"Zalèa!" Rikku's shrill voice said as she boarded the airship. "What in Spira -- AERIS!" she jumped up and down, running to the flower girl.  
  
"Rikku!" Aeris giggled, hugging her old friend. "Nice to see you again."  
  
"Nice?! It's terrific!" Rikku laughed. "Come on! You have to see Yunie!" she said, dragging her along.  
  
Piper smiled, "Something tells me you aren't in trouble anymore."  
  
"That's good," Evan smiled back, "Very good."  
  
"And this means we can go home," Charis said to Piper.  
  
"Yeah... home," Piper said, still bewildered by the idea. Although she had only been in Spira for a few weeks, she wanted to call it her home already. The five followed the adults out, watching the reunion.  
  
"Aeris! It's you!" Tidus laughed, embracing the woman who had brought him back to Spira. "How are you doing?"  
  
"I'm just fine," Aeris smiled. She walked up to Yuna, and the two brunettes looked at each other for a moment. "Hi Yuna."  
  
"Hi Aeris," Yuna replied, a smile tugging on her lips. She hugged her friend, who had saved her life more than once. "Glad to see things worked out between you and Cloud."  
  
"Same with you and Tidus," Aeris joked. "It's been too long."  
  
Yuna nodded, "Why didn't you come sooner?"  
  
"I, uh... lost the time-key," she said, embarrassed.  
  
"Lost it?" Yuna giggled, "Did you ever get the one I sent to you after the honeymoon?"  
  
"Actually," Aeris sighed, "Piper found it." Both brunette heroines looked back at their offspring, sighing simultaneously. "We have a lot of work to do."  
  
"You know what's going on?" Yuna asked.  
  
"Most of it. Come on," Aeris said. "Cloud and I will tell you guys everything, and you can tell us everything you know." The adults walked into a hut, leaving the five teens outside.  
  
Nari glanced at Piper, "Does this mean we're off the hook?"  
  
"I don't know..." Piper said, worriedly. "I know I'm not." There was a group sigh. "Now what?"  
  
"Well, you still owe me a game of blitzball," Evan grinned, causing Nari and Zalèa to burst into a fit of laughter.  
  
"What's blitzball?" Charis inquired.  
  
Piper smiled weakly, "I suppose a game a blitz would be fun for now. Come on Charis, we'll teach you how." 
>> 
>> * * *
>> 
>> "Neal?!" Yuna, Rikku, Gippal, and Tidus cried out in unison.  
  
"He's behind all this?" Gippal said in disbelief. Neal had been his friend for years.  
  
"They say he isn't really who you all think he is," Cloud said after the reaction.  
  
"The real Neal died years ago, just before I came to Spira," Aeris said. "A spirit in the Farplane had enough power to revive the body and possess it."  
  
"We have to tell Paine!" Rikku shrieked. "She's _married_ to him!"  
  
Cloud nodded, "Just don't let this Neal guy know."  
  
Rikku got up to find a Commsphere, while Gippal began to pace the room. "I can't believe it..."  
  
"Don't worry," Tidus said, having known Neal for a while as well, "Well get him."  
  
Yuna stared at her hands. "Aeris," she whispered, "Why is this happening?"  
  
The flower girl shrugged, worried about her daughter, "I really don't know Yuna. But like last time, we'll get through this."  
  
The former summoner nodded, her thoughts trailing to the past. Seventeen years had gone by, and there hardly had been anything to worry about. A few disputes here and there, but she had never had to save the world again. She worried about what would become of Spira when she left for the Farplane. Yuna didn't like the idea, but she hoped her children held the 'world-saving' gene she and Tidus seemed to carry. She figured they did, since they had helped protect Piper so well.  
  
Rikku walked in, holding a Commsphere. Paine's worried and angry figure could be seen in the screen. "Hello Aeris," she said.  
  
"Hi Paine," Aeris smiled softly. "I'm sorry about Neal."  
  
"Me too," she muttered. "What are we going to do about it?"  
  
"We're going to Zanarkand," Gippal said.  
  
"Huh?" Rikku looked at her husband, "What for?"  
  
The one-eyed Al Bhed wrapped an arm around his wife, "That's where he is. If we bring Piper, he'll be there."  
  
Cloud looked warningly at Gippal, "I'm not putting my daughter in anymore danger."  
  
"But she is the key to all of this. We have to do it," Gippal said. "Besides, we will all be there to protect her."  
  
Aeris nodded, "But we can't let the kids know."  
  
"I'll meet you there," Paine said through the Commsphere. Hot tears fell from her eyes, causing her to appear extremely vulnerable. "See you," she hung up, obviously gathering the necessities to leave her home in Bevelle. 
>> 
>> * * *
>> 
>> The crisp, cool water seemed to calm Piper's nerves, at least a little. She was going to regret leaving Spira; she'd never be able to play blitzball. Charis didn't like the idea of it, and had decided to watch from the beach as Piper and Evan faced Nari and Zalèa. Nari, of course, had whined about having the Al Bhed girl on her team. After a draw of straws, the teams had been picked the same way. They had crushed Nari's team, obviously. Piper stayed in the water, looking up at the morning sky.  
  
"So are you really going to go home?" Evan asked.  
  
Piper hadn't realized he was still in the water. Floating around, she replied, "I don't think I have a choice. I want... I want to stay here. But I don't think I could ever..." she stopped, knowing Evan would understand what she meant. _I don't think I could ever kill Charis. We can both be home, and that's where we'll stay._  
  
"Zalèa will miss you," he said, tossing the blitzball up and down in the air. "Nari too. They've grown pretty fond of you, I think. That's pretty amazing, you know."  
  
Piper faced him, taking in his beach blonde hair and turquoise eyes. How she loved his eyes... _Stop that,_ she ordered herself for being silly. "What's so amazing about it?"  
  
"Well, Nari and Z have never really gotten along with anyone outside our circle. Zalèa can be hard headed at times, and because she's a year older, Nari sort of looks up to her." Evan grinned at Piper, "It was weird for her to accept you right away."  
  
"Really...?" Piper said quietly, half paying attention to what he was saying. Half her mind was still thinking about him, and of course, the heinous plots against her.  
  
"Yeah. I'll miss you too, you know. You're fun when we're not worried about getting killed," he laughed. "You should find a way to stay."  
  
Piper wondered how he could have such a bright outlook at everything, such a buoyant personality. She remembered a time when she had been like that too. _Things change._ "Thanks," she said for the compliment. "but I really don't think there's a way I could stay... All my friends back home, and my school, everything's back there."  
  
"You could go to school here, and we're your friends, aren't we? And you only met the others for a little while; everyone's still curious about you," Evan said, tossing her the ball.  
  
She smiled slightly, using the ball as a floaty; she was beginning to tire from keeping herself afloat. "I know but --"  
  
"Rao, oui dfu! Cdub vmendehk yht lusa pylg!" Zalèa cried out in Al Bhed, laughing. Nari was by her side, in a fit of giggles as well.  
  
Evan instantly turned a bright shade of vermilion.  
  
"What did she say?" Piper asked, curiously.  
  
"She told us to stop flirting," Evan blushed.  
  
Piper laughed, "You can speak Al Bhed?"  
  
"Yeah. Z taught me and Nari," he said, diving underwater.  
  
Stifling another giggle, Piper waited until he rose from the water, "Can you tell me how to say, 'You guys are losers,'?"  
  
Cerulean eyes glittering, Evan said, "Ed'c hud vmendehk, ed'c muja."  
  
Piper grinned, facing the two giggling girls, "Ed'c hud vmendehk, ed'c muja!" she pronounced. Zalèa and Nari fell to their knees, crying with laughter. "I didn't think it was that funny..." she looked at Evan who was shaking his head, a grin on his face. "I didn't say what I wanted to say, did I?"  
  
"Not quite."  
  
"What'd I say?" Piper demanded.  
  
Evan laughed, "I can't tell you."  
  
Throwing the blitzball at him, Piper stuck out her tongue. "I'll just ask Zalèa then!" she giggled, swimming to the shore.  
  
"No don't!" he cried, chasing after her.  
  
"Zalèa!" Piper shouted, running through shin-deep water. She stopped running when she saw the adults, serious faced, talking to the three girls on the beach.  
  
Charis' face showed nothing but fear. "Okay... let's go."  
  
"You can't!" Nari cried.   
  
Zalèa turned"Piper! Tell them you want to stay! You're not going back to Zanarkand!" 
>> 
>> * * *
>> 
>> _Al Bhed Translation:  
  
**Rao, oui dfu! Cdub vmendehk yht lusa pylg!** - Hey, you two! Stop flirting and come back!  
  
A/N: If you really want to know what Evan made Piper say, look it up yourself :P Hehe. This chapter was the longest I've written in a while and is the turning point in this story. It was also something to do what I meant to in the entire story. Truly this was supposed to be an all-fluff fic, but I figured that'd be sort of dumb and this happened. So I have to add a little fluff in here and there, and that was the PiperxEvan fluff for now. ::sigh:: You're all going to hate me very soon, I'm sure. _
>> 
>> _Always - Letselina_


	16. To Zanarkand

_A/N: Sorry for the wait. It took me a while to decide what to do with this chapter. There are only three chapters left in this story!!  
_  
**-Chapter Sixteen-  
To Zanarkand**

"Will you be all right?" Evan asked quietly.

Piper nodded, her fingers tracing the fiery design on the wall. The airship they were on - the Celsius - was quite low tech compared to even the simple Dandilily. This was because it was over twenty years old, of course. She had wandered from the ship's bridge, not interested in hearing more of the reminisce between Aeris, Yuna, and the others. And because she was furious with her parents.  
_You're not going back to Zanarkand!_ Zalèa's words screamed in her mind. The hour or so of arguing had mostly washed over her. All she could think of was the look on Charis' face when the seven daggers neared her. _I'm going to die, aren't I?_  
She just had a gut feeling that something was going to go wrong, no matter how many times the adults assured her they wouldn't let anything happen. But she was worried; she had distanced herself so much from Charis, she was afraid to look at her. And she had grown so close to Evan, Nari, and Zalèa, she was afraid to leave them. "I don't understand why we have to do this."

"That makes two of us," he said. "It seems so risky, and Neal would come back eventually."

Piper nodded again. The adults had explained why they were going to Zanarkand, and they in turn told the adults what they knew about Neal. But Charis had kept silent the entire time. _What does she know that we don't?_ "Yeah, maybe." They made it to the cabin, the eerie silence had washed over the two again.

_"STOP!" shrieked Aeris._

Piper spun around, looking at the door to the cabin. "Did you hear that?" she whispered.

"Hear what?" Evan looked at her worriedly, "Hey, are you okay?"

_"What's the point in living?!" Yuna screamed back. "I nearly killed them! What will stop me from finishing the job? Death! That's what!"_

Whimpering quietly, Piper covered her ears, squeezing her eyes shut. "Make it stop..." she cried, falling to her knees. She was overwhelmed with emotions; they weren't hers, but they were powerful.

_"No! Death will bring misery to everyone on Spira!" Aeris yelled._

"Piper, what's wrong? I don't hear anything," Evan knelt beside her, "What do you hear?"

_"Shut up! You killed Sephiroth too. For all we know, it was you who forced him to do your dirty work. But I don't need to know!"_

"Make it stop!" Piper shrieked, sobbing loudly.

"What's wrong?" Charis peered over the top of the cabin

_"Let me out of here!"_

Piper cringed. She could feel the smoke clogging her lungs... the flames licking her feet.

_"You must stop! That's enough!"_

"Go get help!" Evan yelled.

_"This is where we sat that night, the seven of us."_

"Okay!" Charis began to run down the stairs.

_"Vegnagun will make that all go away."_

_"I'll never forgive Sephiroth."_

_"Listen to my story... This may be our last chance."_

_"Words left unspoken for a thousand years..."_

_"Hey, use that if we get separated. Then, I'll come running, okay?"_

_"I'm all right... I'm fine, really. It's passed now."_

_"Lady Yuna, are you going to bring us the Calm?"_

_"No, stop! Stay away from him, traitors!"_

_"It's okay. We all miss her. Even after five years, I can... I can still see her face as she floated down her grave."_

_"The people and the friends that we have lost... and the dreams that have faded... Never forget them."_

_"I love you."_

The voices and emotions were beginning to blend together. Everything was passing by... It was so overwhelming. And she didn't even know most of these people. And then it stopped. Piper inhaled deeply, her breath clogged with tears. Looking up, she saw she was still in the Celsius' cabin. Sobbing, she clutched her knees to her chest, trying to regain her own mind. She had seen so much. Her mother, Yuna, and so many people... And their feelings. Happiness, sorrow, joy, regret, love, hate... it was more than she ever knew possible.

_It will all be over soon..._ a raspy female voice echoed in her mind.

"Who's there?" Piper whispered.

"It's just me," Evan said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

The copper haired girl closed her eyes, calming down. "Yeah," she lied. _I don't think I'll ever be okay. Not yet, anyway._

"We've arrived in Zanarkand!" a bouncy male's voice called over the intercom.

_Great._

"Maybe nothing'll happen," Evan suggested. He was obviously trying to cheer her up, but he was failing.

_Or maybe, it'll all go wrong. _Those were definitely her thoughts. "Then we'll just go home."

"You don't really think they'll make you go back, do you?" he looked at her, a tithe of despair in his eyes.

Piper smiled a little, "I'll go down fighting." Now that Ahriana and Sephianna were gone, she felt a bit safer in Spira.

"Oh good," he grinned, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Hey!" she protested. She crossed her arms, looking up at him. Piper felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. It wasn't like she hadn't had a boyfriend before, but this was _Evan_. He was Nari's brother, and Zalèa's good friend. Besides, she didn't know how long she could stay in Spira before her parents dragged her home screaming.

"Don't worry, I don't bite," Evan teased.

Shaking her head, Piper slipped out of his grip, skipping ahead of him. "Sorry Evan, but long-distance relationships never work out. Time or distance." She stepped through the door, not wanting to look back. _That was cruel,_ one side of her mind yelled at the other.

"It's great to see you again Paine," smiled Aeris.

"It's great to see you again Paine," Piper mocked under her breath. Just seeing her parents made her grit her teeth.

The silver haired woman Piper had met a few days before returned the smile, "It's been too long, Aeris."

Piper stood on the small balcony, looking down at everyone. Apparently, Charis hadn't gotten their attention long enough to let them know she was experiencing... all of their feelings. Whatever she had experienced had put her in a miserable mood.

"Come on Piper," Cloud beckoned, "We want to do this quickly."

Sauntering down the steps, Piper followed the large group of people off the airship. Almost protectively, Evan, Nari, and Zalèa stood beside her, and she was thankful they were her friends. The group stood at the bottom of the summit, gaping at the swirling vortexes that were Fayth.

"I don't believe it. They really are back," Tidus said in awe, looking up.

"But why?" asked Yuna.

"Because of Jenova," Aeris said quietly. She walked toward the giant rock, which was more like a statue, and gasped. "Yuffie..."

"Where?" Rikku's bouncy voice cried out as she skipped toward Aeris. "Oh my gosh..."

The two women looked at a certain statue on the giant rock of Fayth.

"She became a Fayth a thousand years ago," Charis answered, her voice dark and monotone.

"How do you know?" a curious Gippal questioned.

"The time-key took both myself and Yuffie to the time of the Machina War. We watched Zanarkand crumble beneath Sin and became Fayth for the summoning."

"And you still walk Spira?" Yuna looked at Charis, wide-eyed. "I sent all the Fayth to the Farplane after Sin was defeated!"

Charis smirked, a cruel, dark look for the innocent girl. "Simple. I am unsent. I resisted easily. I am only half a Fayth, after all." She spread her arms, a greenish aura emitting from her hands. "There's so much, you all don't know."

"Charis, what's going on?" Aeris demanded.

"If I were you, Ancient, I'd worry more about your family than the Kisaragi girl," she spat. Her aura flared around both hands and the same colored aura began to glow around Cloud and Piper.

"What's happening?!" Cloud hollered. Bending over, almost in pain, he growled menacingly.

"Help!" Piper cried. She felt her entire body lift off the ground, and she had no control over it. "Mom!" She didn't care how upset she was with them. Something bad was happening to her, and she didn't want to let it happen.

"Piper!" Evan, Nari, and Zalèa cried out in unison. They all rushed toward her, but were blown back by a small green force field.  
"What was that?" the Al Bhed girl rubbed her head.

"Come now, Piper," Charis cackled, the green aura flaring brighter and brighter until it was blinding.

When the light finally faded, Piper and Charis were gone. No where to be found.

_A/N: Two reviews... Well I'm still going to keep writing because it would drive me nuts to stop after this. **To Saikia**: I don't have any reviewers to steal!! XD **To Emmy:** Hey I haven't talked to you in like... two or three days! O.O I hope his anti-fluff wasn't too bad but I had to do it.  
Well there isn't much left to write, I might not make this a trilogy like I wanted because I don't have any reviewers.  
Always - Letselina_


	17. Meet Charis

**-Chapter Seventeen-  
****Meet Charis**

"Charis! What are you doing?!" the bitter Piper demanded. She was afraid, tired, and weak. Her body was somehow levitating over a giant hole, but she couldn't move at all. It was as if invisible bounds were keeping her from falling. She didn't know where she was, but she guessed by the broken ruins and monkeys, that she was still in Zanarkand.

"I'm righting all wrongs in this world. I will bring true peace to Spira," Charis circled Piper, watching her carefully. Her soft, dark brown eyes had taken a greenish glow. Piper knew it as the glow of a SOLDIER, or a person who had been exposed to pure Mako. "I watched this world and the last. Sephiroth tried to bring the Promised Land but failed. Because he was weak. Thousands of nameless people attempted to do the similar thing. When Yu Yevon summoned Sin, even I thought he had done it. But a thousand years passed and he could not bring Spira peace. Seymour Guado tried to become Sin, to do a better job than Yu Yevon. He fell at hands of Yuna, as did Sin and Yu Yevon. The lost soul, Shuyin, attempted to use Vegnagun, and failed. Again at the hands of the Summoner Yuna. When Seymour and Sephiroth returned to this world, their petty fighting made them fall, this time forever more, at the hands of Yuna and her friends."

"What's your point?" Piper asked, her eyes following her friend. Or the girl who had been her friend.

"I'm going to bring peace to Spira. And with your body, the Promised Land will be ours."

"I don't want the stupid Promised Land!" Piper yelled, "I want to know why you want it, Charis!"

Snickering, Charis crossed her arms, "Your friend died. A thousand years ago. She became a Fayth. And I awoke. Yet she had control over her body. That is, until now."

_That's what I thought,_ Piper said to herself, fearfully. She knew it wasn't the Charis she had grown up with. "Then who are you?"

"The goddess of death, of course. I am Jenova."

"We've searched everywhere!" Nari complained. "Where could they have gone?"

"We haven't looked everywhere yet," Yuna sighed. "The old blitz stadium..."

Tidus nodded. He remembered the place where they had fought Yunalesca easily. But he hadn't been to this Zanarkand in years. It always seemed like a sacred place. "Right then! Charis must have taken Piper there."

"I hope so," Aeris whispered.

Cloud wrapped an arm around his wife, standing silently beside her. His head pounded loudly, and he was surprised no one else heard it. Whatever Charis had done to make his body glow like that, it gave him a sensation he hadn't felt since the time of Meteor. It was something that brought him to his knees every time he experienced it. "Of course!" he said suddenly, looking up.

"Of course what?" Rikku peered at the mercenary.

Shaking his head, he said, "I can't believe I didn't realize it before. She's not Charis."

"We sort of guessed that already," Zalèa rolled her eyes. Piper had told them about Charis, and the way that... _person_ had acted, was nothing like Piper had described.

"It's Jenova," he looked at the horizon.

"Very good, Cloud. You aren't as brainless as I suspected."

The group of ten turned in unison, looking at the speaker. "Neal!" Paine shrieked, an odd noise to escape her mouth.

"Hello, Paine." The Al Bhed man stepped toward the group, a smirk from ear to ear on his face. "Jenova has begun her destruction. The ritual will begin soon."

"Who are you?!" Paine growled.

Neal walked to the warrior, smiling almost innocently. "You don't recognize your own husband?" he chuckled.

"You aren't Neal!" she yelled. With as much agility as she had in her sphere-hunting days, Paine pulled out her one handed sword, holding it ever close to the man's throat. "I'll ask you once more! Who are you?!"

"Resurrection is a wonderful thing, isn't it?" he laughed. He didn't seem to be bothered by the point of the blade near his neck. "Aeris was resurrected, Tidus was resurrected, and even I was resurrected."

"What are you talking about?" the Al Bhed sporting an eye patch questioned.

"The Ancient and the Dream of the Fayth were resurrected in their own bodies because both were a little more than mortal. When I died, of course, I was nothing more than a very powerful mortal. But with that power, I was able to bring myself back to this world, taking over the body of a man who had nothing more than a simple job at a restaurant. And with it, I was able to bring my daughter to this time as well."

"Your daughter?" Paine pressed the blade against his neck, not afraid to spill any blood.

"Charis. Jenova. The small girl I created to bring peace to the world."

"You brought Jenova back to life?!" Cloud yelled.

"Of course," Neal said coolly. "She is the only one who can bring the Promised Land. You see," Neal's body gave off a dark colored aura, and his body was covered for a moment. When the darkness faded, a few gasps were heard in the group. "I will not give up my dream." Dressed in a white lab cloak, the dark haired man smirked. "Good to see you again everyone."

"Jenova..." Piper closed her eyes, every curse word she knew running through her mind. _This is the end, isn't it?_ Inside she promised herself, if she lived, she was never going to speak to any of those adults again. Ever!

"You've heard of me then," Jenova smiled. "Good. Then I don't have to explain who I am. Well, shall we start?"

Piper opened her eyes, seeing a bright silver circle appear around her. _Don't look down_, she thought. Her fear of falling down the giant hole under her wasn't that big of deal anymore, but it was still enough to make her stomach knot up. Slowly the bright circle faded, and in its place were seven sharp daggers. _Shit. Again._

_A/N: Well two more chapters. But they will both be MUCH longer than this one... I want to finish this story and start the next one before school starts next Wednesday. If you don't know who Charis' "father" is yet, it's Hojo. I thought it was obvious but I dunno some people... **To Red Vixen:** Oh Hiya. Well there's only like 2 chapters now :P** To Emmy:** I am 6 hours BEHIND you. So when it's 8:25 pm there it's 2:25 pm here I **usually** don't sleep at that time, Hehe._

_Always - Letselina_


	18. The Ritual of the Seven Blades

**-Chapter Eighteen-  
****The Ritual of the Seven Blades**

"Hojo," Cloud growled. "Where's my daughter?!"

"Don't worry about her," Hojo chuckled.

"Tell us!" Paine pulled back her sword, her glare threatening.

The dark haired man shrugged, "With Jenova."

Letting out a cry of anger, Paine swung her weapon with all her might, slicing through the man's side. Or so she thought.

"You see," he said, his voice echoing around them. "Being dead has its advantages." Next to him appeared a copy of himself. And then another, and another, until the entire area around them was full of Hojo's.

"Get out of here," Yuna said, pulling out twin pistols.

"Not without you guys!" Aeris argued, instinctively pulling out her staff.

"Take our kids and go. We'll deal with the crazy guy," Gippal said, wielding a massive machina weapon.

"But Dad!" Zalèa gasped.

"Go!" Rikku, Tidus, Yuna, Gippal, and Paine all cried at the same time.

Cloud pushed through a few of the Hojos, "Come on you guys!"

Aeris ran, armed with her staff, behind the twins and the Al Bhed girl, making sure they weren't followed.

"You don't really think Charis would..." Nari whispered.

"I hope not," Zalèa shuddered.

"Charis wouldn't... Jenova would," Evan said gloomily.

* * *

"Charis, please!" Piper cried. Her only hope was to snap her friend back in place of this monster. The sharp daggers neared her skin slowly, ominously poking at her fear. "You have to wake up!"

"Charis is dead. She has been rewarded for her thousand years of service with death," Jenova cackled. "Now let's begin..."

An eerie chanting, or what Piper supposed was chanting, began to emit from Charis, now Jenova's, body. It came from neither her mouth nor was it in her voice. Eerie, yet soothing. Dark male voices chanted with a heavy female singing long notes over it. It was almost peaceful.

_"We're almost there!" Nari said breathlessly as they saw the stadium at the bottom of the hill_.

Piper let out a soft cry as she felt the first blade press through the skin on her right thigh. 

_"We're coming Piper!" Zalèa shouted, sprinting ahead._  
  
She had little time to think for the second pierced into left thigh, two more into her shoulders. Everything seemed into slow motion.

_"Please, be okay..." Evan whispered, chasing after._

Her head moved to the left and she saw the silver metal cut into her tanned skin, a deep red fluid flowing down her arm as tears began to clog her vision.

_"There's too many of them!!" Rikku shrieked. "We'll never make it!"_

_"Keep fighting! We can't let him get to the others!" Paine shouted, fighting with all the anger she felt._

She turned her head to the other side, seeing the exact procedure. _Why is this happening to me?_

_"Yuna!" Tidus knelt beside his wounded wife._

_"Keep fighting!" Yuna ordered, holding her injured arm._

Piper watched as the fifth and sixth dagger sliced open her skin, creating a strange design.

_"We're going to do it!" Gippal laughed. "There aren't many left!"_

_Each cry of the Hojo copies filled the air, drowning the sounds of a pained girl in the stadium._  
  
Her shrieks of teary pain almost seemed to fit with the intensifying chanting.

_"Piper?" Cloud called, searching parts of the stadium._

_"Piper! Where are you?" Aeris cried. _

A bright light appeared, tracing each of the careful cuts from her shoulders to wrists, thighs to ankles, and the newest across her upper chest. _This is the end. Goodbye... everyone..._ Piper closed her eyes weakly, unable to let out another cry. She felt as if her very existence was being taken from her body. "Please... st-stop..." she whispered painfully.

_"The Chamber of the Fayth. We have to be close!" Zalèa said, determined._

Silence. All except the sound of a swirling vortex, that had been opened sometime in Piper's period of unconsciousness. Her eyes fluttered open, and she realized she was on the ground, drenched in her own blood. "Charis?" she choked.

"Piper... You have to kill me now. It's the only way to reverse it and stop her from summoning Odin!" the real Charis spoke. She knelt beside her friend, clasping a dagger in between Piper's weak and shaky fingers. Her black hair clung to her face, her hands and knees covered in the same thick red liquid as she attempted to keep Piper conscious.

"I can't. I'll... never..." Piper floated in and out of consciousness.  
  
_A/N: Nothing great, but since my only reviewer is Emmy, deal with it Hehe. Next chapter is the last. The final in the trilogy will be posted up too. **HOPEFULLY** I'll get all my bum reviewers back.  
Impatiently Yours,  
-Letselina_

__


	19. Inevitable

**-Chapter Nineteen-  
****Inevitable**

"Piper! You have to do this last thing!" Charis shook Piper.

_"Did we..." Rikku sat, out of breath. "...beat him?"_

_"Hojo is no more. He's gone..." Gippal wrapped an around his wife's shoulder._

"Charis... I told you..." Piper coughed her words in a raspy voice.

"Just do it! Dammit Piper!" Charis held her head in frustration.

Behind them, there was a monstrous roar.

"Odin!" Aeris' voice yelled. "Piper!" she cried, running to her daughter.

"Stay back!" Charis ordered.

"Piper!!" the trio of friends gasped simultaneously.

Zalèa covered her mouth, nausea washing over her. "She can't be..."

"She's alive! But she has to finish this!" Charis said.

"Get away from her Jenova!" Cloud roared, charging at her.

"I'm not Jenova!" Charis waved her hands. "Don't come close! Odin'll--"

Another deep growl emitted from the vortex-like portal behind Piper, causing everyone to freeze.

"Piper, please..." Charis helped the girl sit up.

_Paine stood tiredly, leaning on her sword for support. Each of the Hojos they had defeated had burst in clouds of dust, which lay all at their feet. She couldn't speak. Her husband was not the man she had thought he was. Betrayal, anger, and hurt. She felt all three and more. What worried her more is what she would tell her son._

_"Are you all right, Paine?" Yuna spoke, holding her injured arm carefully._

_The warrior nodded slowly. "I will be."_

The ground around them was beginning to rumble. They had so little time.

"Piper! Just do it!" Charis yelled.

"I won't!" Piper argued.

"I'm already dead anyway!" the black haired girl begged. "Please!"

_"Do you think Piper and the others are all right?" Tidus said as they walked quietly to the Celsius._

_The ground shook under their feet, nearly knocking them down._

_"I think we better go back!" Rikku squeaked. _

_"Come on!" Paine started to run._

"Piper, look at yourself! You don't have a choice!" Nari said impatiently.

"Just do it!" Evan attempted to convince.

"Come on!" Yuna's voice was heard.  
There was another deep growl as a monstrous looking head poked though the portal behind Piper.

_Odin._

"Piper!" Charis shouted.

Dark claws grasped the ground as it began to pull its body from the portal.

It was the final straw for Piper as she lifted the dagger, dripping her own blood, far enough to draw enough strength. "I'm sorry..." she whispered, unheard over the cries of her friends, parents, and Odin. With her last bit of energy, she threw all her might into her thrust. Her stomach rolled as she felt the blade push through the skin of her close friend, straight into her heart.

_You did it. Thank you..._

Piper closed her eyes, staggering on her feet. A bright light emitted from the portal, washing over her as Odin let out a cry of pain. A soft warmth seemed to push her over, her body crumpling into a ball as she fell into unconsciousness.

_It isn't over yet._

_**The End**_

_A/N: Hardly a chapter, I know. But it's the end. The prologue for the next story is up. It's called "Our Last Chance" and is up in the FF Crossovers section still. All questions will be answered in the next story and all the original characters will be more in depth, including the few who were hardly in the story. And EvanxPiper fluff! YESHNESS! Hehe. But if you didn't get it: Charis is dead. Odin is gone. Piper collapsed. The end.  
Always - Letselina_


End file.
